XliliUSTl^flTEt) 



(^flTECHlS|V[ 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



n 



Shelf. Laz^fto. 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 




DR. MARTIN LUTHER. 



LUTHER S 



Smaller Catechism, 

EXPL/I!(ED ANALYZED & ILLUSTRATED 



WITH APPROPRIATE 



ANECDOTES, PROVERBS AND EXAMPLES, 



Drawn from Scripture History, Biography, Nature, 
and Remarks of Distinp-uished Persoifs;,o/v^;- 

AUG 30 1894 



/ 

/ 






PrTVNSTADT. D. D.. ^Yf%S^^ ^ 



EDITOR TEACHERS' JOURNAI., CHRISTIAN'S GUIDE, AUTHOR OF 

BIBI,E WINE, COMMUNION ADDRESSES, CHRISTIAN 

CATECHISM, ETC., ETC. 



YORK, PA. 

p. ANSTADT & SONS, 
1894. 



K. 



I THE LIBRARY 
Of C6NORBS* 



^i ''t 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1894, by 

P. ANSTADT & SONS, 
In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



PREFACE. 

The instruction of the young in the truths of our holy religion 
has in all ages been regarded as an important duty. In the Old Tes- 
tament the Lord said of Abraham, ' ' I know him, that he will com- 
mand his children, and his household after him, and they shall keep 
the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment." Gen. xviii. 19. 
Solomon says, ' ' Train up a child in the way he should go, and when 
he is old he will not depart from it. ' ' Prov. xxii. 6. Paul commends 
the mother and grandmother of Timothy, who had instructed him in 
the holy Scriptures from his youth up. 

In the early Christian church the converts from heathenism were 
generally very ignorant, and required careful instruction in the truths 
of the Christian religion, before they were baptized and admitted into 
full membership. Even the more educated and learned among them 
required more or less instruction in the fundamentals of religion. In 
large cities special schools were founded for this purpose. The cate- 
chetical school of Alexandria in Egypt became the first theological 
seminary, in which Clement and Origen were the teachers. 

The prevailing ignorance of the people at the time of the Refor- 
mation made instruction necessary and gave rise to the preparation of 
Catechisms. Nearly all the reformers, Luther, Brenz, Justus Jonas, 
Aecolampadius, Calvin, Ursinus, and Olevianus prepared such works. 

Of the value and importance of Catechetical instruction. Dr. Abdel 
Green speaks thus in his admirable lectures : " It is exactly this kind 
of instruction which is at the present time most urgently needed in 
many, perhaps in most of our congregations. It is needed to imbue 
effectually the minds of the people with ' the first principles of the 
oracles of God ; ' to indoctrinate them soundly and systematically in 
revealed truth, and thus to guard them against being ' carried about 
by every wind of doctrine, ' as well as to qualify them to join in the 
weekly services of the sanctuary with full understanding, and with 
minds in all respects prepared for the right and deep impression of 
what they hear. ' ' 

In Scottland John Craig compiled a catechism in 1581. 

The Anglican Catechism was prepared in 1549 and enlarged in 
1604 for the use of the Episcopal church. 



IV. PREFACE. 

The Westminster Catechisms, Longer and Shorter, were prepared 
by the Westminster assembly for the use of the Presbyterians of Eng- 
land and Scottland. 

The Heidelberg Catechism was prepared by Ursinus, a pupil of 
Melanchton, and Olevianus, a pupil of Calvin, in 1563, for the Re- 
formed churches of the Palatinate. 

' * When we compare these catechisms of the leading churches of 
Christendom," says Dr. Schaff, "it is remarkable, how much more 
they agree, than they differ in the essential articles of the Christian 
faith and duty. ' ' 

We give specimens from the larger Catechism of Craig, first 
printed in Edinburgh by Henrie Charteris in 1581, and in London in 
1589. It has recently been reprinted by the Rev Dr. H. Bonar in his 
work on the Catechisms of the Scottish Reformation, with historical 
preface. 

FIRST QUESTIONS. 

Ques. Who made man and woman ? 

Ans. The Eternal God, of his goodness, 

Ques. Whereof made he them ? 

Ans. Of an earthly body and an heavenly spirit. 

Ques. To whose image made he them ? 

Ans. To his own image. 

Ques. What is the image of God ? 

Ans. Perfect uprightness in body and soul. 

Ques. To what end were they made ? 

Ans. To acknowledge and serve their maker. 

Ques. How should they have served him ? 

Ans. According to his holy will. 

Ques. How did they know his will ? 

Ans. By his works, word, and sacraments. 

Ques. What liberty had they to obey his will ? 

Ans. They had free will to obey and disobey. 

OF THE SACRAMENTS. 

Ques- What is a sacrament ? 

Ans. A sensible sign and seal of God's favor offered and given 

to us. 

Ques. To what end are the sacraments given ? 

Ans. To nourish our faith in the promise of God. 

Ques. How can sensible signs do this ? 

Ans. They have this office of God, not of themselves. 

Ques. How do the sacraments differ from the word ? 

Ans. They speak to the eye, and the word to the ear. 



PREFACE. V. 

Ques. Speak they other things than the word ? 

Ans. No ; but the same diversely, 

Ques. But the word doth teach us sufficiently ? 

Ans. Yet the sacraments with the word do it more eflfectually. 

Ques. What, then, are the sacraments to the word ? 

Ans. They are sure and authentic seals given by God. 

Ques. May the sacraments be without the word ? 

Ans. No ; for the word is their life 

Ques, May the word be fruitful without the sacraments ? 

Ans. Yes, no doubt ; but it worketh more plenteously with them. 

Ques. What is the cause of that ? 

Ans. Because more senses are moved, to the comfort of our faith. 
— Steel. 

Luther's Catechisms, a large one for teachers, and a small one for 
children, were prepared in 1529, to meet the lamentable ignorance 
which then prevailed in Saxony and throughout Germany. The 
Small Catechism appeals directly to the heart, and is a model of child- 
like simplicity. 

** I/Uther's Catechism became the household book of German fam- 
ilies. It marked an epoch in religious teaching. His Smaller Cate- 
chism, which chiefly deserves the name, ' is truly a great little book, ' 
with as many thoughts as words, and every word telling and sticking 
to the heart as well as the memory." — Schaff^s Church History, Vol. 

VI. pp. 550-557. 

' ' It was an immense boon to the people and would alone have im- 
mortalized its author." — Rev. Robert Steel. 

This work claims to be an explanation of lyuther's Smaller Cate- 
chism, with Scripture Examples, and Anecdotes and Illustrations, 
drawn from Biography, History, Nature, Science, etc., etc., etc. 

There are a number of German books of this kind, but so far as 
we know, there has never been a book printed in the English lan- 
guage, giving illustrations and anecdotes of Luther's Smaller Cate- 
chism. . The publisher of this book of illustrations has used many of 
them during his early ministry, and found them verj' helpful in fasten- 
ing abstract truths on the minds of his Catechumens. No doubt, 
many pastors have had the same experience. A number of our 
ministerial brethren have encouraged us to publish these illustrations 
in book form, and have engaged copies in advance. 

Dr. P. Born, Prof, of Theology, Selinsgrove, Pa., kindly read some 
of the proof sheets and writes as follows : 

"I am pleased with your method, especially in regard to the 
analysis of the several articles. It simplifies and aids in impressing 



VI. PREFACE. 

and remembering the several points given under the respective heads. 
Your illustrations and anecdotes are pertinent and certainly add in- 
terest and value to the work. They give to abstract truths, vividness 
and living forms. I hope the work will have an extensive circulation, 
for I think it is well calculated to do good. ' ' 

The importance of combining history with Christian instruction 
has long since been recognized. 

"In histories we find all doctrines and laws living." — Sebastian 
Frank. 

" Verba doceni^ exempia trahunt.^^ —Jacob Balde. 

One important use of anecdotes and illustrations in religious in- 
struction is to attract attention. In this respect they are of great 
value. How far superior is this means to the impatient, oft repeated, 
and useless admonition, ' ' Please pay attention ! " " Look this way ; ' ' 
"Stop talking." Dry bread is not relished by the children, and 
abstract truth cannot hold their attention long. But the mere prom- 
ise of " a story ' ' arouses the attention like an electric shock and directs 
all eyes and ears toward the speaker. 

But the attraction of attention is not the only, nor the most im- 
portant use of this mode of imparting instruction. Its great value con- 
sists in the means which it affords of enlightening the understanding. 
What faithful teacher has not often sought for a suitable comparison, 
an example, a definition, or demonstration in order to set an impor- 
tant truth in its proper light? Very learned men, even, who are 
accustomed to abstract thought, often find it necessary to make them- 
selves understood by means of this popular method. The teacher 
should not usually begin his instructions by anecdotes and illustrations, 
which would simply amuse or interest his hearers, but he should teach 
first the doctrine or precept, and then impress the truth upon the 
minds and hearts of his hearers by appropriate anecdotes and illustra- 
tions. There is something overwhelming in the expression when it is 
said, not thus it is written and demonstrated, but " Thus it was lived, 
thus it was done ! " 

Even in the divine Revelation iiistruction, doctrine and history 
go hand in hand ; they permeate each other and are seldom separated. 
No one would now teach Bible History without connecting it with 
doctrine. Why then, should Bible doctrines and systematic instruc- 
tion be imparted only in an abstract manner ? Why should doctrine 
not be made perspicuous, plain and vivid by examples ? 

" One of the most important duties of the Christian pastor is un- 
doubtedly that of preparing all the baptized members of his church, 
and all other persons properly within the reach of his influence, for 



PREFACE. Vll. 

the solemn duty of making a public profession of religion, and a wor- 
thy approach to the table of the Lord. In the instruction of children 
in the family, and in the Sabbath-school, the elements of Christian 
truth and duty are taught by means of a smaller catechism, such as 
that of lyuther. But in the different Lutheran countries of Europe, as 
well as in mary churches in America, larger catechisms, adapted to 
moi e developed minds, are employed to prepare catechumens for confir- 
mation. It was in order to furnish a suitable work of this kind, more 
copious in matler and systematic in arrangement, that the author was 
induced to undertake the present work. In executing it, his aim has 
been to take the pupil by the hand, and, in familiar language, to con- 
duct him through the popular course of religious truth ; teaching him 
his lost condition by nature and practice, and persuading him to an 
entire surrender of his heart to the Savior, as his only hope. In short, 
the object of the writer in composing this catechism was the same as 
that at which every faithful minister aims in his course of catechetical 
instruction — the conversion, edification, and salvation of his pupils." 
— Preface to Schmucker's Class-book of Religious Instruction. 

'* A catechism on the Christian religion should present the articles 
of faith fresh from the fountain of the word of God to the mind and 
heart of the pupil for his instruction and comfort in life and in death. 
It should move in the central current of Christian truth. The more 
important denominational dififerences may be stated for historical in- 
formation, but in a kind and charitable spirit, and with a view to pro- 
mote, rather than to diminish, unity and harmony among the various 
branches of the kingdom of Christ." — Dr Schaff. 

The reader will notice that we have made use of popular proverbs 
in connection with some of the doctrines discussed. These often make 
a very striking and lasting impression, when given in illustration of a 
particular truth. Says A. Fricke : *> Even the Talmud says, * Do not 
look with contempt upon the proverb. By the use of these it becomes 
easy to instruct men in morals and religion. When the king has lost 
a gold piece or a pearl, may he not be able to find them by the help 
of a little candle, that is hardly worth a penny ? ' And on this point 
the Talmud is doubtless correct : as the little candle is sufficient to find 
a pearl, so the little proverb is often sufficient to bring back him, who 
has gone astraj^ and is in danger of making shipwreck of faith and 
virtue. Therefore we should make diligent use of the proverb in 
religious instruction." 

This manual has been prepared for the special use of ministers, 
students, S. S. teachers, heads of families and intelligent laymen, who 
we hope will be interested and benefitted by its careful perusal. 



Vlll. PREFACE. 

We have been aided in our work by two English books on the 
Presbyterian Shorter Catechism, one by John Whitcross, 1848, and the 
other by Rev. Robert Steel, D. D., both of Edinburg, Scotland. But 
the bulk of the work is compiled from such German books as Woelb- 
ling's Christliche Geschichten ; Muehe, Konfirmanden Unterricht ; 
Nissen, Unterredungen ueber den Katechismus ; Caspari, Geistliches 
und Weltliches. J. H. Abbert Fricke, Handbuch des Katechismus 
Unterrichts, 1892, kindly lent us by Prof. J. W. Richard, came too late 
for practical use on this work. 

This book was prepared at longer or shorter intervals, with many 
interruptions, during the busy hours of our editorial labors, and*we, 
therefore, beg the indulgence of the reader for any imperfections or 
errors that may be discovered therein. We send it forth with the 
prayer, that our readers may receive as much instruction and enjoy- 
ment in its perusal, as we have received in its preparation. 

P. AnstadT. 
York, Pa., 1894. 



INTRODUCTION. 

7. What is religion ? 

True religion is a knowledge of God, and a proper 
manner of worshiping him. As there is but one true God, 
there can be but one true religion. 

2. How many principal religions are there in the world? 

There may be named four principal religions in the 
world ; namely, the Heathen, the Jewish, the Mahomedan 
and the Christian, w^hich is the true religion. 

J. What is the character of the Heathen religion ? 

The heathen people are those who do not know the 
true God, but serve false gods and idols. Their under- 
standings are darkened, and they are alienated from the life 
of God, through the ignorance that is in them, because of 
the blindness of their hearts. Eph. iv. i8. 

/J.. Why did the heathen fall into this deplorable condition? 

The heathen fell into their deplorable condition because, 
when they knew God they did not glorify him as God, 
neither were they thankful ; but they became vain in their 
imaginations and their foolish hearts were darkened. 
Romans i. 21. 

5. What duty does this deplorable condition of the 
heathen impose upon us ? 

It is the duty of the Christian church to send mission- 
aries into heathen lands, as Christ commanded. Go ye, there- 
fore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of 
the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. Matt, xxviii. 
19. We should remember, also, that our forefathers were 



VI INTRODUCTION. 

heathen, and we are indebted for our Christianity and civi- 
lization to christian missions. 

6. What is the history of the Jewish people f 

God chose Abraham and his family, and the children 
of Israel, to whom he revealed himself in the bestowment of 
great blessings. From this people the knowledge of the 
true God was to go out unto all nations. Therefore glor- 
ious institutions were established, and wonderful works of 
God were performed. Wonderful and significant is the his- 
tory of this people ; their disgraceful apostacies ; their re- 
jection of Christ; their present dispersion over the earth, 
and their stiffnecked unbelief 

They know the Father in a manner, but cannot come 
to him, because they have rejected the Son. Jesus saith 
... I am the way, the truth and the life ; no man cometh 
unto the Father, but by me. John xiv. 6. Yet, it is be- 
lieved, a glorious future awaits the Jewish people. In the 
last times, which may be very near, great multitudes will 
be converted to the faith of Christ and be restored to their 
ancient inheritance, the land of Palestine. Read in this 
connection Gen. xvii. 8 ; Isa. xi. 15, 16 ; Isa. xxxv. 10 ; Jer. 
XXX. 3, 10, 16 ; Rom. xi ; Rev. vii. 4-8. 

7. What was the nature of the Jewish religion ? 

The Jews believed in one true God, and their doctrines 
and forms of worship are laid down in the Old Testament 
Scriptures. Their worship consisted largely of ceremonies 
and sacrifices, which were types of the promised Messiah, 
or Christ, whom they rejected and crucified. 

8. Why is the Jewish not now the true religion f 

Because all the types of the Old Testament were ful- 
filled in Christ, and therefore, those types have passed away, 
and the ceremonies connected with them should no longer 
be observed. 



INTRODUCTION. Vll 

p. What is the character of the Mahomedan religion ? 

The Mahomedan religion was founded by Mahomed, 
who was the son of a merchant in Mekka, Arabia. He 
claimed to be a prophet in the year6ii of the christian 
era. His religion is a mixture of Christianity, Judaism, heath- 
enism and his pretended revelations. His religious system is 
called Islam and his followers are called Moslems. His 
father-in-law, Abu-Bekr, collected his teachings into a book, 
called the Koran, which is divided into 114 chapters. Ma- 
homed's flight from Mekka to Medina occurred on July 15, 
622, and is called the Hegira. 

The Mahomedans date their time from the Hegira. 
They extended their religion by force of arms. In the year 
630, they conquered and occupied Mekka and dedicated the 
old heathen Haaba, as their triumph. At the time of Ma- 
homed's death, the whole of Arabia was subdued by them. 
In 637 they took Jerusalem, in 707 they occupied all of 
North Africa, in 711 they occupied Spain, in 1453 they oc- 
cupied Constantinople and advanced as far as Vienna. 

The Mahomedan religion teaches false doctrines and 
impure morality, such as hatred of enemies and polygamy. 
They have no correct knowledge of the Father, much less 
of the Son. 

10. How are the inhabitants of the eartJi divided among 
these four principal religions f 

The number of adherents of the different great religions 
of the world, respectively, are given as follows : 

Jews, 7,000,000; Mahomedans, 185,000,000; Chris- 
tians, 445,000,000; Heathen, 830,000,000; converts at 
heathen mission stations, 2,887,500. 



Vlll 



INTRODUCTION. 



LUTHER S SMALL CATECHISM IS DIVIDED INTO FIVE PARTS. 

The first part teaches us, in the Ten Commandments, 
our duties to God and to our neighbor. 

The second part embraces in the three articles of the 
Creed the motives that should impel us to the performance 
of those duties. 

The third part teaches us in the Lord's Prayer, whence 
and how we derive strength for the performance of our 
duties. 

The fourth and fifth parts contain, in the Holy Sacra- 
ments, the strengthening means for the performance of our 
duties. 



PART I. 
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 

11. What does the first part of the Catechism embrace ? 

The first part of the Catechism embraces the Ten Com- 
mandments, as they are recorded in Exodus xx. and Deut. 
vi. 9, 20, 25. 

12. How were the Ten Commandnients given f 

The Ten Commandments were spoken by God him- 
self from Mount Sinai in the hearing of the children of Is- 
rael, amid thunderings and lightnings. They were then 
written by the finger of God on two tables of stone and de- 
livered unto Moses. 

Exodus xxxi. 18. And he (God) gave unto Moses two tables of 
testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God. 

I J. How many commandments were written on the 
first table ? 

According to theAugustinian division the first, second 
and third commandments are contained on the first table. 

i/f.. What is inculcated by the commandments on the 
first table ? 

The commandments on the first table inculcate love 
for and worship of God. 

75. Which commandments are contained on the second 
table ? 

The second table, according to the Augustinian divis- 
ion, contains the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth 
and tenth commandments. * 



10 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

i6. What do the commandments of the second table in- 
culcate f 

The commandments of the second table inculcate love 
and good will to our neighbor. 

77. Hozu were the commandments originally divided in 
the Bible? 

The Scriptures were originally written without any di- 
vision of chapters or verses ; hence we cannot determine 
with certainty, how many commandments were contained 
on each table. 

THE FIRST COMMANDMENT. 

18. Repeat the first commandment. 

" I am the Lord thy God. Thou shalt have no other 
gods before rne. Thou shalt not make unto thee any 
graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven 
above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water 
under the earth : thou shalt not bow down thyself to them* 
nor serve them : for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, 
visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto 
the third and fourth generation of them that hate me ; and 
showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and 
keep my commandments." 

ig. What is meant by this comm^andment in general ? 

In general this commandment means, that we should 
fear, love and trust God above all things. 

20. Why should you fear, love and trust God above all 
things ? 

1. He is my Lord ; therefore I should fear him ; 

2. He is God, the supreme good ; therefore I should 
love him ; 

3. He is my God ; therefore I should trust him ; 

4. And this above all things, because there is none 
other so great, so loving and so true as the Lord, my God. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. II 

21. What is forbidden in the first commandment f 
The first commandment forbids idolatry. 

22. How many kinds of idolatry are there ? 
There are two kinds of idolatry ; namely : 

1. Gross or open idolatry, and 

2. Refined or secret idolatry. 

2^. What is gross, or open idolatry ? 

Gross idolatry consists in exalting any thing that is not 
God, upon God's throne, and honoring, and worshiping it 
as God, such as wood, stone, gold, silver, pictures, angels, 
saints, the sun, moon, stars, animals, reptiles, etc. 

Rev. xxii. 8, 9. And I, John, fell down to worship before the 
feet of the angel, which showed me these things. Then said he. See 
thou do it not, for I am thy fellow servant . . . worship God. 

2^. When is refined or secret idolatry comjnitted ? 

Refined or secret idolatry is committed when we 
fear, love, and trust anything else more than God. 

2^. What is required in the first commandment ? 

In the first commandment we are required not only to 
gain a knowledge of God from nature, and the Holy Scrip- 
tures ; but also to honor him ; that is, to live according to 
our knowledge of God. 

26. Wherein does the fear of God consist ? 

The fear of God consists in a reverential awe of his 
omnipresence, power and justice. It is, indeed, not a slav- 
ish fear of punishment, but it is a filial fear, which restrains 
from sin through the love of God. 

2y. Wherein does the love of God consist ? 

The love of God consists 

1. In joy in God, who is our greatest benefactor. 

2. In a heartfelt longing after God. 

3. Which leads to the obedience of God. 

4. And keeps God constantly in our thoughts. 

5. Which obedience is the true evidence of our love 
to God. 



12 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

6. The observance of all the commandments is derived 
from this filial fear and love of God. 

28. How do we put our trust in God f 
We put our trust in God, 

1. When we expect everything good from hini. 

2. And therefore never despair in time of trouble. 

2g. What other motives have we for the observance of 
this commandment? 

We should obey this commandment, because, 

1. God is our God. 

2. We are indebted to him for our whole being and 
existence. 

3. We have received from him every blessing we have 
ever enjoyed, and we look to him for every blessing we 
hope to enjoy in this world, and the world to come. 

ANECDOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Scriptural Examples. God revealed himself and conversed with 
Adam and Bve, Gen. ii. 16, 17 ; Cain, iv. 6-15 ; Noah, vi. 13 ; vii. i ; 
viii. 15 17 ; Abraham, xii. 1-3 ; xvii. i ; Samuel, i Sam. iii., etc ; to 
all the Patriarchs and Prophets. He revealed himself by visions to 
Abraham, Gen. xv. i ; Jacob, xlvi. 2 ; Isa. i. i ; Ananias, Acts ix. 10 ; 
Peter, xi. 5, etc. He revealed himself in dreams to Jacob, Gen. xxviii. 
12, etc. ; Joseph, xxxvii. 5, etc. ; the wise men from the Bast, Matt. ii. 
12. He revealed himself through the Angel of the Lord to 
Hagar, Gen. xvi. 7, etc. ; Abraham and Lot, xviii. and xix ; Moses, 
Bx. iii. 2, 6. He revealed hi mself through the Word, the Son, to the 
whole world, John i., etc., xiv. 9 ; Heb. i. i 3. 

The following is the occasion which induced Luther to write the 
Small Catechism : 

The Blector of Saxony had ordered a visitation of the churches 
and schools. Luther writes : " The deplorable condition in which I 
found religious affairs during a recent visitation, impelled me to pub- 
lish this catechism, Alas ! what misery I found ! The people, espec- 
ially those who live in the villages, seem to have no knowledge of 
christian doctrine, and many of the pastors are ignorant and incom- 
petent teachers. And yet, they all maintain that they are christians, 
have been baptized and received the Lord's Supper. Yet they can- 
not recite the Lord's Prayer, the Creed or the Ten Commandments." 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 1 3 

Luther one day asked his little son what he had learned. The 
son replied, " I have learned the whole catechism." "My dear son," 
said Luther, "if you have learned, or understand the whole cate- 
chism, then you have learned more than I have. For, although I 
am an old Doctor, yet I must still continue to study and learn every 
day. ' ' 

Luther calls the catechism the true layman's Bible, which con- 
tains everything that is necessary to our salvation. He says : 

1. The Ten Commandments are the doctrina dodrinarum, that 
is, the doctrines above all others. 

2. The Creed is the historia historiarunt^ that is, the history 
above all histories. 

3. The Lord's Prayer is oratio orationum, that is, the prayer 
above all prayers, and 

4. The Holy Sacraments are ceremoniae ceremoniarufn, that is, 
ceremonies above all ceremonies. 

The Ten Commandments teach us, what, according to God's will, 
man should be, but is not. 

The Creed teaches us what God is towards man, the sinner. 

The Lord's Prayer teaches us, how the sinner seeks God and 
draws near to him. 

The Sacraments show us how God seeks the sinner and draws 
near to him. 

Dr. Jonas, called the catechism "The children's Bible." 
Joachim, Duke of Anhalt, was a learned man. He wrote with his 
own hand in his catechism : ' * Next to the Bible, this is my best book. ' ' 

John George, Duke of Mecklenburg, said on his death bed (1675), 
"When I was a boy I learned the catechism, and I have not yet for- 
gotten it." 

An atheist wanted to dispute with a christian on the existence of 
God. The christian replied, that he would dispute with him on one 
condition ; namely, that the atheist would go out into the grave yard 
at midnight, alone, into a secluded spot, and there lift up his hands 
toward the starry heavens and exclaim, "There is no God." The 
atheist did not comply with the conditions, and there was no dispute. 

"I am." Luther says: " I have several times tried to compre- 
hend the ten commandments, but when I only began with the first 
word, I almost stuck fast with the little word ' I,' and I could not 
comprehend the word ' I.' " 

The Existence of God. The fool hath said in his heart, there is 
no God. Ps. xiv. i. 



14 • ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

The following anecdote will illustrate that the man who says 
there is no God is a fool : The famous astronomer Athenasius Kircher, 
having an acquaintance who denied the existence of God, took the 
following method to convince him of his error, upon his own princi- 
ples. Expecting him on a visit, he procured a very handsome globe 
of the starry heavens, which being placed in a corner of the room in 
which it could not escape his friend's observation, the latter seized 
the first occasion to ask, whence it came and to whom it belonged. 
" Not to me," said Kircher, "nor was it ever made by any person^ 
but it came here by '■mere chance J' " "That," replied his skeptical 
friend, "is absolutely impossible ; you surely jest." Kircher, how- 
ever, seriously persisted in his assertion, took occasion to reason with 
his friend upon his own atheistical principles " You will .not be- 
lieve," said he, "that this small body came here hy mere chance; 
and yet jou will contend that those heavenly bodies, of which it is 
only a faint and diminutive resemblance, came into existence without 
order or design." Parsuing this chain of reasoning, his friend was at 
first confounded, in the next place convinced, ultimatelv joined in a 
cordial acknowledgement of the absurdity of denying the existence of 
a God. The Pcet Young says : " An undcTOut astroricmer is mad." 

A poor Arabian of the desert being asked how he came to be as- 
sured that there was a God, replied : "In the same way that I am 
able to tell the foot-prints impressed on the sand, whether it was a 
man, or a beast that passed that way." 

Lord Rochester was one day at an atheistical meeting in the 
house of a person of quality. He undertook to manage the cause and 
was the principal disputant against God and religion, and for his per- 
formance received the applause of the whole company; "upon 
which," he says, "my mind was terribly struck, and I immediately 
replied thus to myself; Good God ! that a man that walks upright, 
that sees the wonderful works of God, and has the use of his senses 
and reason, should use them to the defying of his Creator ! " 

Mr. Collins, the deist, met one day with a plain countryman go- 
ing to church. He inquired where he was going. " To church, sir." 
* ' What to do there ? " "To worship God . " " Pray whether, is your 
God a great or a little God? " " He is so great, sir, that the heaven 
of heavens cannot contain him : and so little, that he can dwell in my 
heart. ' ' Collins declared, that this simple answer by the countryman, 
had more effect upon his mind than all the learned volumes which 
the learned doctors had written against him. 

An Atheistical Anatomist. When Galen, a celebrated physician, 
but atheistically inclined, had anatomised the human body, and care- 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 1 5 

fully surveyed the frame of it, viewed the fitness and usefulness of 
every part of it and the many several intentions of every little vein, 
bone and muscle, and the beauty of the whole, he fell into a fit of de- 
votion and wrote a hymn to his Creator. 

•The pious Bishop Barowsky, of Koenigsburg, was once asked by 
a boasting Atheist : *' How will you convince me of the contrary, 
when I tell you into your face : * There is no God !' " " That does not 
cause me much trouble," replied the bishop, "as I can safely intrust 
the answer to the sacred Scriptures, which make mention of you." 
"Of me!" "Yes, yes, of you: in Psalms xiv. i." The Bible was 
brought and the passage audibly read : " The fool hath said in his 
heart , there is no Gody 

When Robespiere, the French atheist and bloodthirsty persecu- 
tor, was after his fall, lying speechless on a table, with a bloody and 
half-bandaged face, a poor laboring man stepped up to him, and after 
looking at him for some time in mute astonishment, exclaimed : 
" Yes, Robespiere, there is a God ! " 

I am the Lord thy God. " The Lord," says Luther ; "this sounds 
like a peal of thunder, when we remember how many thunderbolts 
and strokes of lightning this Lord God has in his hands, with which 
he can crush and destroy ; but then the words, '■thy God,"" sound so 
mild and lovely, when we think how many blessings and how much 
goodness this Lord God holds in his hands to pour out over those 
who fear him ; yea, this he does daily over all kinds of people. 
*Thy God,' that is, he will treat you as a mother does her child, he 
will act towards thee as though there were no other human being in 
the world but thou." 

" Thou shalt have no other gods before me." A gentleman in 
England, who had a chapel attached to his house, was visited by a 
person from London, to whom he showed the chapel. "What 
a glorious kitchen this would mat e ! " said the visitor. * ' When 
I make a God of my belly," replied the gentleman, "I will 
make a kitchen of my chapel." 

A lady once told the Rev. Romaine that she thought she could 
comply with his doctrine, and give up everything but one. "And 
what is that, madam?" "Cards, sir." "You think you could not 
be happy without them ? " " No, sir ; I kn ow I could not. " " Then, 
madam, they are your god, and they must save you." This pointed 
and just reply is said to have resulted in her conversion. 

An Indian chief having sent for Hiacomus, a converted native, 
with a view of receiving religious instruction of him, asked him how 



1 6 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

many gods the English, worshiped. Hiacomus answered, " One and 
no more." On this the chief reckoned up about thirty-seven princi- 
pal gods which he had ; *' and shall I, " said he, "tljrow away all 
these thirty-seven for the sake of one only ? " " What do you your- 
self think ? " said Hiacomus ; " for my part, I have thrown away all 
these and many more, some years ago, and yet I am preserved, as 
you see, to this day." "You speak true," said the chief, "and 
therefore, I will throw away all my gods, too, and serve that oce God 
with you." 

" How does it come," says some one ** that the heathen worship 
the creature instead of the Creator?" And he was answered : "They 
are like the little boy, who for the first time came to the court of a 
king, and took every one, whom he saw clothed in attractive gar- 
ments, to be the king himself. Thus weak, unenlightened man now 
regards the sun, moon and stars, and then some other glorious crea- 
ture as God himself." 

It is a bad thing, when one man is the other's devil, but equally 
bad, when one man becomes another's god. 

A miser, who was shipwrecked, sat down upon his money chest 
and exclaimed : " Where this goes, there I will go, too ! " 

A golden key can unlock all doors, except the door of heaven. — 
Proverb. 

Many men are like a certain king, (Redwald), who caused two 
altars to be erected in his temple ; on one of these, he sacrificed to 
Christ and upon the other to the Devil, in order that he may not of- 
fend either, but retain the favor of both. 

A poor heathen had placed all his trust in his two cows. There- 
fore he once remarked to Moffat, the missionary: "Your religion 
may be good enough for you, but I have never seen that it fills the 
stomach." • 

When the emperor Frederick III. was asked which of his minis- 
ters he liked best, he answered : ' ' Those who fear God more than me." 

Cardinal Woolsey, having fallen under the displeasure of his 
monarch, made the following sad reflection a little before his death : 
" Had I served my God as diligently as I served my l^ng, he would 
not have forsaken me now in my gray hairs. But this is the just re- 
ward that I must receive for my indulgent pains and study, not re- 
garding my service to God, but only to my prince." 

Whenever the conscience of Henry VIII. ouched,. he was in the 
habit of drowning its monitions by gormandizing and drunkenness. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 1 7 

On his death-bed he ordered a glass full of wine to be brought to him. 
He drank it out and said to the bystanders : " Amici, mine pudidi- 
tnus, omnia — regniirn, vitam, aniinant ! " (Now sirs, all is gone, my 
crown, my body and my soul ? " ) 

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness 
of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, 
or that is in the water under the earth. A native of India, who came 
to London, very much censured the want of images in the churches ; 
he said the worshipers had nothing upon which to fix their attention, 
and hence they were often gazing at each other, and often at mere 
inanity. "We," he said, "have in our temples an image of the 
Deity to look at, with large eyes, huge ears, great hands and long 
feet. Not that we believe this very image to be the Deity, but we use 
it only to fix our attention, and to remind us that that Being, which 
it represents, can see everything, hear everything, etc. 

A Protestant, who had rented a small farm under Alexander II., 
Duke of Gorden, having fallen behind in his payments, a vigilant stew- 
ard, in his grace's absence, ^seized the farmers stock and advertized it 
to be sold at auction, and fixed a day. The duke happily i etumed 
home in the interval, and the tenant went to him to supplicate for 
indulgence. "What is the matter, Donald ? " said the duke as he 
saw him enter with downcast looks. Donald told his story in a con- 
cise, natural manner ; it touched the duke's heart and produced a 
formal acquittance of the debt. Donald, as he cheerfully withdrew, 
was staring at the pictures and images which he saw in the ducal 
hall, and expressed to the duke in a homely way, a wish to know 
what they were. * These," said the duke, who was a Roman Catho- 
lic, "are the saints who intercede with God for me." "My lord 
Duke," said Donald, "would it not be better to apply yourself di- 
rectly to God ? I went to muckle Sawney Gordon, and little Saw- 
ney Gordon ; but if I had jiot come to your Grace's self, I could not 
have got my discharge, and both I and my bairns had been turned 
out of house and home." 

Thou shalt have no other gods before me. A little boy being 
asked, " how many gods are there ? " replied " One." " How do you 
know that ? " " Because," said the boy, " there is room for only one, 
and he fills heaven and earth." 



1 8 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

THE SECOND COMMANDMENT. 

JO. Repeat the second commandment f 

" Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God 
in vain ; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that tak- 
eth his name in vain." 

J 7. What is required of us in this commandment ? 

That we should so fear and love God, as not to curse, 
swear, conjure, lie or deceive in his name; but call upon 
him in every time of need, and worship him with prayer, 
praise and thanksgiving. 

J2. What is forbidden in this commandment ? 

The second commandment forbids the taking of God's 
name in vain. 

jj. What do you understand by Gods nam,e f 

The name of God is that by which he himself is repre- 
sented, and by which he is distinguished from all creatures. 

j^. How is Gods name represented ? 
God is represented 

1. By his appropriate names, God, Jehovah, Lord, or, 

2. By his attributes. 

Exodus xxxiv. 6. And the Lord passed by before him, and pro- 
claimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long suf- 
fering, and abundant in goodness and truth. 

Isaiah xlii. 8. I am the Lord : that is my name : and my glory 
will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. 

3. By his word. 

Acts ix. 15. But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way : for he is 
a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and 
kings, and the children of Israel. 

4. By his sacraments. 

Bx. XX. 24. An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and 
shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt-offerings, and thy peace offerings, 
thy sheep, and thine oxen : in all places where I record my name I 
will come unto thee, and I will bless thee. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. I9 

J5. In how many ways may the 7iame of God be taken 
in vain ? 

The name of God may be taken in vain, openly and se- 
cretly. 

^6. By whom is God's name openly taken in vain ? 
God's name is openly taken in vain 

I. By those who deny the being, or existence of 

God. Ps. xiv. I. 

Psalms xiv. i. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. 
They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none 
that doeth good. 

II. By those who live as though there was no 

God. 

Psalms X. 4. The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, 
■will not seek after God : God is not in all his thoughts. 

Isaiah iii. 9. The shew of their countenance doth witness against 
them ; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe 
unto their soul ! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves. 

III. By those who disregard his word or the Holy 

Scriptures, and the Holy Sacraments, upon 
which God has placed his name. 

Ex. -V. I. And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told 
Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Let my people go, that 
they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. 

Ex. V. 2. And Pharaoh said. Who is the Lord , that I should 
obey his voice to let Israel go ? I know not the Lord, neither will I 
let Israel go. 

Jer. vi. 10. To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they 
may hear? Behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot 
hearken : behold, the word of the Lord is unto them a reproach ; 
they have no delight in it. 

IV. By those who carelessly speak of God and his at- 

tributes and ordinances from mere habit or 
for adornment of their speech or mere merri- 
ment. 

V. By those who use that holy name to their own 

harm and the injury of others, 

a. By cursing, wherein they wish evil either to 



20 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

themselves or others, thus showing that 
they cannot control their tongues. 

James iii. 5. Bven so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth 
great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth. 

James iii. 6. And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity : so is 
the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and 
setteth on fire the course of nature ; and it is set on fire of hell. 

b. By swearing, wherein they falsely, or with- 

out necessity, call God to witness for the 
truth of their assertions. 

c. By conjuring, that is, using the name of 

God in seeking to accomplish extraordi- 
nary things. 

d. By lying, when God's word is perverted to 

their own or other's injury. 

2 Peter iii. 3. Knowing this first, that there shall come in the 
last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 

2 Peter iii. 4. And saying, Where is the promise of his coming ? 
for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from 
the beginning of the creation. 

J/. How is God's name secretly taken in vain f 

God's name is secretly taken in vain when his name, 

his attributes, his word and sacraments are improperly used 

or misappropriated. 

j(?. What is required in this commandment ? 
In this commandment the proper use of God's name is 
required, 

1. Internally, that we should keep God always in our 
mind. Ps. cix. 72; Ps. 1. 15. 

^ Ps. cxix. 72. The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thou- 
sands of gold and silver. 

Ps. 1. 15. And call upon me in the day of trouble : I will deliver 
thee, and thou shalt glorify me. 

2. Externally, that we should confess him with our 

lips, diligently read his word, and make a faithful use of 

the sacraments. 

Psalm X. 4. The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, 
will not seek after God : God is not in all his thoughts. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 21 

Ps. xci. 15. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him : I 
will be with him in trouble ; I will deliver him, and honor him. 

Ps. xci. 16. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my 
salvation, 

3. And apply all this to the glory of God and the 

good of our own souls. 

Prov. xviii. 10. The name of the Lord is a strong tower : the 
righteous runneth into it, and is safe. 

jp. What are the motives for the observance of this 
commandment ? 

The motives for the observance of this commandment 
are 

1. The punishment threatened against its transgres- 
sors. 

Lev. xxiv. 14. Bring forth him that hath cursed without the 
camp, and let all that heard him lay their hands upon his head, and 
let all the congregation stone him. 

2. The reward promised to those who faithfully obey it. 

Acts ii. 21. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call 
on the name of the Lord, shall be saved. 

ANECDOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Scriptural Examples. The Divine Curse : Gen. iii. 17 ; Gen. iv. 
II ; Deut. xxvii. 16-26; Noah, Gen. ix. 25; Isaac, Gen. xxvii. 29; 
Joshua vi. 26; Elisha, 2 Kings ii. 24; David, Ps. cix; Christ, Mark 
xi. 13, 14, 20, 2[ ; Matt. xxv. 41 ; Paul, Gal. i. 8. 

Sinful cursing. Goliath against David, i Sam. xvii. 43 ; Job iii ; 
Shimei against David, 2 Sam. xvi. 5, 7, 13, 19, 21; Peter, Matt. xxvi. 74. 

Divine swearing. To Abraham, Gen. xxii. 16 ; Isaac, Gen. xxvi. 
3 : David, Psa. Ixxxix., iv., xxxvi., cxxxii., xi ; Israelites, Num. xiv. 
23, 28, 35 ; Heb. iii. 14 ; Abraham, Gen. xxi. 23, 24 ; Elieser, Gen. 
xxiv. 1-9 ; Joseph, Gen. xlvii. 31 ; Paul, Rom. iv. 4. 

The judicial oath. Christ, Matt. xxvi. 63, 64. 

Sinful oaths. Peter, Matt. xxvi. 74 ; Herod, Mark vi. 23. 

Perjury. (Compare Jos. ix. 1519 ; ) 2 Chron. xxxvi. 11-13 ; Zech. 
viii. 17 ; Ezekiel xvii. 19 ; Absalom, 2 Sam. xv 8 ; 2 Chron. xxxvi. 

11-13- 

"That horse, sir," said a coachman to a pious man traveling with 
him, "that horse knows when I swear at him. " "Yes," said the 
traveller, "and so does One above." The rebuke silenced the pro- 
fane man. 



22 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM 

A wealthy man had been stung in the face by a bee. This caused 
him intense pain and he called for a doctor to relieve him. The doc- 
tor told him to be patient and the pain would subside. But the man 
cursed and blasphemed in a shocking manner. The doctor then told 
him the bee had not stung him in the right place. "Where," said 
the man, "should the bee have stung me ? " "At the end of your 
tongue," replied the doctor. 

A king of Egypt sent an animal for sacrifice to Pittaku?, one of 
the seven wise men of Greece, with the request that he should send 
back to him the best and the worst piece of it. The wise man sent 
back to the king the tongue of the animal, thereby indicating that 
the tongue is the best part of man when properly used, but the worst 
part of man when improperly used. 

James iii, 8 lo. The tongue can no man tame ; it is an unruly 
evil, full of deadly poison. Therewith bless we God, even the Father; 
and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of 
God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My 
brethren, these things ought not so to be. 

A man in Shelton could not speak without cursing. This dis- 
tressed his little daughter, who was only four years old. One day 
she heard him repeat the Lord's Prayer. Yet on the same day she 
heard him cursing most dreadfully, and said to him. "Did you say 
the Lord's Prayer to-day?" The man did not answer a word, but 
from that day he was not heard to cuise again. 

Prince Henry, the son of James I. of England, had a paiticular 
aversion to the vice of swearing and profanation of the name of God. 
When at play he never swore, and on being asked why he did not 
swear at play as did others, he answered that he knew of no game 
worthy of an oath. Again, when a butcher's dog had killed a stag 
that he was hunting, he remarked, "How could the butcher help it? " 
One of his huntsmen said that if his father had been served thus, he 
would have sworn so as no man could have endured it. "Away!" 
said the prince, " all the pleasure of the world is not worth an oath." 

The learned and pious Dr. Desaguliers was once in the company 
of gentlemen of rank, one of whom swore habitually, yet at every 
oath asked the doctor's pardon. "Sir," at length said the doctor, 
" you have taken some pains to render me ridiculous by your pointed 
apologies ; now, sir, I must tell you, that if God Almighty does not 
hear you, I assure you I will never tell him." 

It is related of the venerable Dr. Matthews, President of Hanover 
College, America, that on one occasion he was walking near the col- 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 23 

lege, with his slow and noiseless step. A youth who had not ob- 
served him approach, while engaged in cutting wood, began to swear 
profanely in his vexation. The doctor stepped up and said, "Give 
me the axe," and then quietly chopped the wood himself. Return- 
ing the axe to the young man, he said, in his peculiar manner, "You 
see now the wood may be cut without swearing." The reproof was 
eflfectual, and led the young man to abandon his impious habit. 

"Sir," said a lady travelling in Scotland with a gentleman who 
swore often, " can you talk Gaelic ? " "Yes," said he, " and I will 
be happy to converse with you." The lady politely asked him to use 
that language for his oaths, as swearing was offensive to herself and 
others who knew the English language. 

When the Elector of Cologne, who was also an archbishop, was 
one day swearing profanely, a peasant standing beside him looked 
amazed. The archbishop asked what he was surprised at. " To hear 
an archbishop swear," he replied. "I swear not as an archbishop, 
but as a prince," said the dignitary. " But, my lord," said the peas- 
ant, "when the prince goes to the devil, what will become of the 
archbishop ? ' ' 

Two soldiers at Chatham once laid a wager on the greatest oaths 
they could respectively utter. After one of them had uttered many 
shocking and blasphemous expressions, he hesitated, and said that 
one more would be his last, when he was instantly struck speechless, 
and died in three hours. The officers made his body a public specta- 
cle, as a warning to others. 

John Howard used to button his pockets when he heard men 
swearing, saying that if men could take God's name in vain, they 
might also steal. 

An American planter was in the habit of using the name of God 
frequently in his talk, whereupon one of his slaves made a solemn 
bow as often as he heard him. On being asked why he did so, he 
said that the name of God filled his soul with awe. The master took 
the hint, and was reclaimed from his profane habit. 

Two men of learning were conversing together, about the method 
they should take in reference to a certain regulation imposed upon 
them by the higher powers, and to which they had conscientious 
scruples. One of them thoughtlessly and impiously swore, " By my 
faith," said he, " I must live." The other calmly and pleasantly re- 
plied, " I hope to live by my faith too, though I dare not swear by it." 
The result was that the man who resolved by grace, to venture his 
temporal interest for conscience-sake, lived in prosperity to see the 
other begging, and to contribute to his relief. 



24 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

In the year 1796, when the ship Du£f was preparing to take out 
the missionaries from the London Missionary Society, Mr. Cox, one 
of the Directors, was one day walking in the street ; he was there met 
by a very fine looking boy, about fourteen years of age, who, stopping 
him, said, "Pray sir, have you not some management in the ship 
that is going out with the missionaries ? " "Yes, I have, my young 
man," said Mr. Cox. "I should like very much, sir, to go out with 
her as a cabin boy." " Would you? " said Mr. Cox, "have you any 
parents?" "I have a mother," said the boy, "but no father." 
" And is your mother willing you should go? " "O yes, sir, very 
willing. ' ' Mr. Cox then desired the boy to call at his house and to 
bring his mother along with him, that she might speak for herself. 
At the time appointed, the boy and his mother came, who, having 
declared her willingness that her son should go, the matter was ac- 
cordingly settled. In the course of the conversation, a gentleman 
who was present, in order to try the boy, said to him, "So you wish 
to go to sea? " "Yes, sir, in the missionary ship." " And you can 
swear a good round hand, I suppose ? " Shocked at the very 'idea of 
such a thing, the ingenuous little fellow bursts into tears, and ex- 
claimed, ''If I thought there wotdd be swearing on board at all ^ I 
would not go.'''' 

Mr. John Howe, being at dinner with some persons of fashion, 
a gentleman expatiated largely in praise of Charles I., and made some 
disagreeable reflections upon others. Mr. Howe, observing that he 
mixed many horrid oaths with his discourse, took the liberty to say 
that in his humble opinion, he had omitted one great excellence in 
the character of that prince, which, when the gentleman had pressed 
him to mention, and waited with impatience to hear it, he told him 
it was this : ' ' that he was never heard to swear an oath in common 
conversation." The gentleman took the reproof, and promised to 
break off the practice. 

The late Rev. John Brown of Haddington, once passing the Firth 
of Forth, between Leith and Kinghorn, had for a fellow-passenger, 
one who appeared to be a Highland nobleman. Mr. B. observed with 
grief, that he freqiiently took the name of God in vain : but suspect- 
ing, that to reprove him in the presence of the other passengers, 
might tend only to irritate him, he forebore saying anything till he 
reached the opposite shore. After landing, Mr. B., observing the noble- 
man walking alone,stepped up to him and said, "Sir, I was sorry to hear 
you swearing while on our passage. You know it is written, ' Thou 
shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.' " On this the 
nobleman, lifting his hat, and bowing to Mr. B,, made the following 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 2$ 

reply : •* Sir, I return you thanks for the reproof you have now given 
me, and shall endeavor to attend to it in the future, but," added he, 
" had you said this to me while in the boat, I believe I should have 
run you through with my sword." 

The Rev. John Maelaurin, of Glasgow, well known to the chris- 
tian world by his valuable writings, in passing one day along the 
street, was disturbed by the noise of some disorderly soldiers. One 
of them particularly, just as Mr. Maelaurin approached them, uttered 
this awful imprecation, "God damn my soul, for Christ's sake!" 
The good man, shocked with hearing such blasphemous language, 
went up to him, and laying his hand on the shoulder of the man, 
said to him with peculiar mildness and solemnity, " Friend, God has 
already done much for Christ's sake ; suppose he should do that too, 
what would become of you ? " It was a word in season, and it came 
with power. The conscience of the soldier sunk under the reproof. 
He was lead not only to reform the evil habit of swearing, to which 
he had long been addicted, but to reflect on his vs^ays, and to turn to 
the Ivord. He became a real Christian ; and proved the soundness of 
his conversion by maintaining to the end of his life, a conversation 
becoming the gospel. 

A minister of the gospel, one day finding a servant beating his 
master's horses, and taking the name of God in vain, he stood still 
and reproved him sharply. The servant made no reply, but prompted 
by curiosity, came next Lord's day to hear his reprover preach. 
"Swear not at all," said the preacher, when concluding his discourse, 
"is a divine command that binds both master and servant. I knew 
a man, not long ago, who surprised one of the swearing tribe of ser- 
vants, in the very act of damning his master's horses. The son of 
Belial, though challenged, durst not open his mouth for his father's 
interest ; but hung down his head like a coward in the devil's service. 
He passed by, and had not the manners to thank his reprover, or 
grace to promise amendment. Is he here ? Do I see him ? Shall I 
name^him?" After some pause, he added, "We shall rather pray 
for him." The servant was sitting trembling before him ; and may 
it be proper to add, that he came forward to the minister, confessed 
his fault, gave signs of true repentance, was added to the church, 
and never after heard to blaspheme that worthy name. 



20 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

THE THIRD COMMANDMENT. 

^o. Repeat the third commandment ? 

" Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six 
days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: But the sev- 
enth day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. 

In it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, 
nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant> 
nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. 

For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the 
sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day : 

Wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath-day, and hal- 
lowed it. 

/J.I. What is enjoined in this commandment ? 

That we should so fear and love God, as not to despise 
his word and day, and the preaching of his gospel ; but 
deem !t holy, and willingly hear, learn and obey it. 

^2. What is the rneaning of the word Sabbath f 

Sabbath is the Hebrew word for rest. 

^j. When and by whom was the Sabbath appointed? 

God appointed and hallowed the Sabbath day after his 
six day's work of creation, because he rested on the sev- 
enth day. 

^^. What is meant by God's resting on the seventh day? 

By this expression is meant, that God ceased from his 
work of creation on the seventh day. 

^5. What day of the week is required to be kept holy as 
the Sabbath day ? 

In the Old Testament dispensation the seventh day 
was required to be kept holy in honor of a finished creation. 
But in the New Testament dispensation, the first day of the 
week is required to be kept holy in honor of a finished re- 
demption. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 2/ 

^6. Why ivas the Sabbath changed from the seventh 
to the first day of the week f 

In the christian church the first day of the week is ap- 
pointed to be kept as a holy Sabbath day, because 

1. Christ rose from the dead on the first day of the 
week. Matt, xxviii. 1-7. 

2. During the forty days between his resurrection and 
ascension he frequently met with his disciples on the first 
day of the week, and thus sanctioned their assembling on 
that day by his presence. 

Jolin XX. I. The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene 
early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone 
taken away from the sepulchre. 

John XX. 19. Then the same day at evening, being the first day 
of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were as- 
sembled for fear of the Jews, then came Jesus and stood in the midst, 
and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. 

John XX. 26. And aft-er eight days again his disciples were 
within, and Thomas with them : then came Jesus, the doors being shut, 
and stood in the midst, and said. Peace be unto you. 

3. The Holy Ghost was poured out upon the disci- 
ples on the day of Pentecost, which was also on the first 
day of the week. 

4. In Scripture it is called The Lord's Day. 

Rev. i. 9. I John, who also am your brother, and companion in 
tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in 
the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testi- 
mony of Jesus Christ. 

Rev. i. 10. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard be- 
hind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, 

Rev. i. II. Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the 
last : and, what thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the 
seven churches which are in Asia ; Unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, 
and unto Pergamos. and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto 
Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. 

5. The inspired apostles and early Christians met on 
the first day of the week for public worship. Acts ii. 1-41 ; 
Rev. i. i-ii. 

I Cor. xvi. I. Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I 
have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. 

I Cor. xvi. 2. Upon the first day of the week let every one of 
you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no 
gathering when I come. 



28 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

6. Ignatius, the disciple of St. John, says : " Let us 
not Jewishly sabbatize, but let us rest spiritually ; and in- 
stead of the old Sabbath, let every lover of Christ celebrate 
the Lord's day, the best and most eminent of days, on 
which our Lord arose." 

^y. Has the Sabbath or any part of it ever been abol- 
ished? 

The ceremonial aspect of the Third Commandment, 
which pertained especially to the Jewish people, has been 
abolished, because it was fulfilled in Christ ; but the moral 
aspect of the Sabbath has not been abolished, because the 
Sabbath is necessary for our bodily health as well as our 
spiritual welfare. 

/^8. How does the third commandment differ from the 
other commandments ? 

The third commandment differs from the preceding, 
and most of the following commandments, which are put 
negatively, — "Thoushalt not',' while this one \s positive, and 
says, " Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." It is 
a positive enactment and a special revelation from God. 

/j.(). What is meant by keeping the Sabbath day holy f 
We keep the Sabbath day holy, when we devote the 

whole day to bodily rest and religious duties. 

50. What religious exercises shoidd we engage in on 

the Sabbath? 

1. In the morning we should have family worship, 
engage in religious meditation, reading of the Scripture or 
good books, then 

2. Attend public worship, hear the word with a pray- 
ful heart, and regard it as a great privilege to enjoy the 
means of grace. 

Lukex. 16. He that heareth you, heareth me ; and he that de- 
spiseth you, despiseth me ; and he that despiseth me, despiseth him 
that sent me. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 29 

2 Cor. V. 20. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though 
God did heseechyou by us : we pr&y you in Christ's stead, be ye rec- 
onciled to God. 

3. After the public worship we should search the 
scriptures, apply the truths, which we have heard, to our 
hearts and carry them out in practice. 

5/. W/iat other religions duties should we engage in on 
the Sabbath? 

As we may have opportunity we should unite with our 
fellow christians in social prayer,^ take an active part in Sun- 
day-school, visit the sick, etc. 

^2. How is the Sabbath day profaned ? 

We profane the Sabbath, 

1. When by excessive bodily labors we so exhaust 
our strength as to unfit ourselves to receive the word. 

Luke viii. 6. And some fell upon a rock ; and as soon as it was 
sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. 

Luke viii. 7. And some fell among thorns ; and the thorns sprang 
up with it, and choked it. 

Luke viii. 8. And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and 
bare fruit a hundred-fold. And when he had said these things, he 
cried. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. 

2. When during the public worship we whisper, pay 
no attention, sleep, or occupy our thoughts with worldly 
business. 

3. When we neglect public worship without a reason- 
able excuse. 

4. When we spend the day in worldly amusements, 
such as dancing, Sunday excursions, games, formal visits in 
which the conversation is mainly on our worldly business, 
or politics. 

Isaiah Iviii. 13. If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, 
from doing thy pleasure on my holy day ; and call the sabbath a de- 
light, the holy of the Lord, honorable ; and shalt honor him, not do- 
ing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking 
thine own words. 

53' ^hat works are allowed to be done on the Sabbath? 

Works of necessity, charity or mercy are allowed and 

commanded to be done on the Sabbath; such as 



30 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

1. Attending to the wants of our domestic animals. 

2. Keeping ourselves comfortable in our clothing and 
houses, and preparing our food. 

3. Ministering to the sick and needy. 

4. Rescuing men or beasts from peril, through acci- 
dent, fire or flood. 

Matt. xii. II. Arid lie said unto them, What man shall there be 
among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the 
sabbath-day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out ? 

5-^. What are the fnotives for keeping this command- 
ment? 

We should keep this commandment, because 

1. God says, " Remember the Sabbath day to keep it 
holy." 

2. God gave this command already in Paradise. It 
is therefore obligatory on the whole human race. 

3. God has given us six days to do all our own 
work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord, our 
God, on which he has commanded us to do no work. 

ANECDOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Scripture Examples. John. Rev. i. 10; The Israelites do not 
gather manna on the Sabbath. Exodus xvi. 22-24. The man wha 
gathered fire-wood on the Sabbath. Numbers xv. 32-36. Christ heals 
the sick on the Sabbath. Mark iii. 3-5 ; Luke xiii. 10-17 ; Luke xiv. 
1-6 ; John V. i ; etc. Nehemiah xiii. 15-23. Christ, Matt. iv. iii. 
The disciples. John ii. 22. Philip and the Eunuck. Acts viii. 26, 
etc. The Bereans. Acts xviii. 11. Apollo. Acts, xviii. 24. Love 
to the house of God. David, i Cbron. xvii. 7-36 ; Psalms xxvi. 
6-8 ; xxvii. 4 ; Ixxxiv. 2-5. David and the people, i Chron. xxx. 
Solomon, i Kings v. 8 ; The first christians. Acts ii. 46. Desecra- 
tion of the house of God by the heathen. 2 Malkabus vi. 4. The 
Jews, xix. 45, 46. 

A German once visited a rich manufacturer in England and re- 
marked that it must be a great loss which he must sustain to have the 
work in his factory stopped on Sunday. But the manufacturer re- 
plied, "It has been my experience, that what is gained on Sunday is- 
lost on Monday." 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 31 

A planter in Surinam asked his negroes why they must always 
come together to pray. He thought each one might as well pray by 
himself. He was just standing before a coal-fire, and one of the ne- 
groes said, " Massa, if you would lay these coals each by itself, they 
would all go out, but what a grand fire they make when they all 
burn together. 

King Charles, of England, was once interrupted in the midst of 
the sermon in church by a nobleman who wanted to engage in con- 
versation with him. " Dear sir," said the king, " do not hinder me 
from hearing God when he speaks to me, in order that on the other 
hand, he may hear me when I speak to him." 

lyUther attended public worship in a village one Sunday and lis- 
tened attentively to the sermon. Some one criticised the sermon in 
Luther's presence. But Luther said, "O, if a preacher simply 
preaches Christ according to the Gospel as explained in the catechism, 
then he is a blessed preacher. In the time of Moses they had not 
only gold and silver vessels in the tabernacle, but also copper and 
iron ones, yet they all served the eternal Son of God." 

That great man, Sir Matthew Hale, thus speaks of the Sabbath : 
"I have," says he, "by long and sound experience, found that the 
due observance of this day, and of the duties of it, have been of sin- 
gular comfort and advantage to me. The observance of this day 
hath ever had joined to it, a blessing upon the rest of my time ; and 
the week that hath been so begun, hath been blessed and prosperous to 
me ; and, on the other side, when I have been negligent of the duties 
of this day, the rest of the week has been unsuccessful and unhappy 
to my own secular employments ; so that I could easily make an es- 
timate of my successes the week following, by the manner of my 
passing of this day : and this I do not write lightly or inconsider- 
ately, but upon a long and sound observation and experience." 

It is said of the pious and learned Mr. Gouge, that as he forbore 
providing suppers on the eve before the Sabbath, that servants might 
not be kept up too late, so he would never suffer any servant to tarry 
at home to dress any meat on the Lord's day for any friends, whether 
they were mean or great, few or many. 

Mr. Philip Henry used to call the Lord's day, the queen of days, 
the pearl of the week, and observed it accordingly. His common 
salutation of his family or friends, on the Lord's day in the morning, 
was that of the primitive Christians ; "the Lord is risen ! he is risen 
indeed ! " making it his chief business on that day to celebrate the 
memory of Christ's resurrection ; and he would say sometimes, 
"Every Lord's day is a true Christian's Easterday." 



32 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

Mr. John Knox, a little before his death, rose out of his bed, and 
being asked, " Why he rose, being so sick ? " he answered, "That he 
had had in the night sweet meditations on the resurrection of Jesus 
Christ ; and now he would go into the pulpit, and impart to others 
the comforts he felt in his soul. " 

A woman who always used to attend public worship with great 
punctuality, and took care to be always in time, was asked, how it 
was she could always come so early, she answered very wisely, 
" that it was part of her religion not to disturb the religion of others." 

One Lord's day, as a man was passing through Ha worth on 
horseback, his horse lost a shoe ; he applied to a blacksmith, who 
told him, "that he could not shoe a horse on the Lord's day, without 
the ministers permission." They went together to Mr. Grimshaw, 
the minister of the place, and the man, satisfying him that he really 
was in haste, going for a midwife, Mr. Grimshaw permitted the 
blacksmith to shoe the horse, which otherwise he would not have 
done for double pay. 

It was the frequent and almost constant custom of Mr. Grimshaw 
to leave his church while the psalm was singing, to see if any were 
absent from worship and idling their time in the church-yard, the 
street or the ale-house : and many of those whom he so found he 
would drive into the church before him. "A friend of mine," says 
Mr. Newton, "passing a public-house in Haworth, on a Lord's day 
morning, saw several persons making their escape out of it, some 
jumping out of the lower windows, and some over a low wall ; he was 
at first alarmed, fearing the house was on fire ; but, on inquiring what 
was the cause of the commotion, he was told that they saw the par- 
son coming. They were more afraid of their parson than they were 
of a justice of peace. His reproofs were so authoritative, and yet so 
mild and friendly that the stoutest sinners could not stand before 
him." 

A minister, observing that some of his people made a practice of 
coming in very late, and after a considerable part of the sermon was 
over, determined that they should feel the force of public reproof. 
One day, therefore, as they entered the place of worship at their 
usual late hour, the minister, addressing his congregation, said, 
" But, my hearers, it is time for us now to conclude, for here are our 
friends just come to fetch us home." We may easily conjecture what the 
parties felt at this curious but pointed address. 

In the year, 1809, a youth about seventeen years of age, the son 
of a respectable tradesman in London, went out for the purpose of 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 33 

shooting birds on a Lord's day in the afternoon. He had done so 
more than once before, which coming to the knowledge of his father, 
he expressly enjoined him never to do the like again. But the lad, dis- 
regarding this command, and taking advantage of his father's ab- 
sence, borrowed a gun from a person in the neighborhood, and went 
out as usual. While he was watching the birds, the gun by some ac- 
cident, went off, and killed him on the spot. Not returning at the 
accustomed time, his friends were alarmed ; a search was made, and 
at length his body was discovered in a barn, in a state too shocking 
to be described. 

On a Lord's day, at the time of the great frost in the year 1634, 
fourteen young men were playing at football, on the river Trent, 
near Gainsborough ; while thus engaged, in the open violation of 
God's command, they met together in a scuffle ; the ice suddenly 
broke, and they were all drowned. 

When a minister of the gospel was spending a few weeks in 
Edinburg, there came on business to the house where he was, a man 
of the world — one of those modem scoffers who are so constantly ful- 
filling Peter's prediction, 2 Peter iii. 3. He was introduced to the 

preacher in the following manner : ' ' This is Mr. , an acquain- 

tance of mine, and I am sorry to add, though young and healthy, 
never attends public worship," "I am almost tempted to hope," 
replied the minister, " that you are bearing false witness against your 
neighbor." "By no means," said the infidel, " for I always spend 
my Sunday in settling accounts." The minister immediately replied, 
"You will find, sir, that the day of judgment will be spent in exactly 
the same manner." 

The eccentric preacher, Rowland Hill (died 1833), once took a 
large stone with him to church and laid it on the pulpit beside the 
Bible. W^hen he noticed that the people were uncommonly attentive 
and astonished, he remarked, "As you are so very attentive to this 
common, cold, dead stone, how much more should you be attentive 
to the word of God." 

Leigh Leigton, bishop of Glasgow, went to church one Sunday 
during unpleasant \\ eather, notwithstanding his ill health. He said, 
"If the weather had been fair, I would have remained at home, but 
as it is unpleasant, I dare not stay away, for it might appear, as if by 
my example I sanctioned the bad practice of neglecting public worship 
for slight hindrances." 

The Pilgrim Fathers, who landed on Plymouth Rock in the bleak 
month of December, were conscientious keepers of the Sabbath. The 



34 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

first Sabbath was spent on the island, within half an hour's sail of 
the harbor. They moored, and dedicated the day of sacred rest to 
God on the frost-bound shore, and beneath a snowy sky. "There 
they stood ; there they praised God ; there arose to heaven frc m New 
Bnglafld's soil the first Sabbath hymn of praise and the first united 
prayer of faith, from child- like, patient, submissive hearts — from men 
in resolution and endurance, children in faith and obedience." — Dr. 
Cheever. 

A gentleman in England, who was in the habit for more than 
twenty years of daily visiting convicts, states that almost universally, 
when brought to a sense of their condition, they lamented their neg- 
lect of the Sabbath, and pointed to the violation of it as the principal 
cause of their ruin. 

Of 1232 convicts in the Auburn State Prison, previously to 1837, 
as many as 447 had been watermen, boatmen or sailors, who had been 
kept at work on the Sabbath. Of these, only 26 had conscientiously 
kept the Sabbath. 

When Captain Palmer of Her Majesty's ship Rosario, was at 
Tanna, in the New Hebrides, he was anxious to see what eflfect the 
few years' residence of the missionary, the Rev. Thomas Neilson, 
had had upon the savage peaple. He told all his men that there was 
to be no trading on Sabbath: To his surprise not a canoe came to the 
ship. Some of the boys went in a boat to the shore, and wished the 
natives to give them some cocoanuts. They replied, " To morrow ! " 
Yet these same men were not then baptized Christians. 

David Brainerd, a devoted and successful missionary to the North 
American Indians, speaking of the Sabbath, says : "I was born on a 
Sabbath day ; I was new-born on a Sabbath-day ; and I hope I shall 
die on a Sabbath-day. I long for the time. Oh, why is his chariot 
so long in coming ? ' ' 

When the miners first crowded into California, to dig for gold, 
they worked seven days in the week, until they found they were dig- 
ging more than gold — they were digging graves. They therefore, 
resolved to rest one day in seven, and found that it was to their tem- 
poral advantage to have a Sabbath. 

In the city of Bath a barber pursued his craft, as so many in his 
trade do, on the Sabbath-day. One day he happened to look into 
a church just as the minister was giving out his text, " Remember the 
Sabbath-day, to keep it holy." He listened long enough to be con- 
vinced that he was habitually violating one of God's commands. 
After a struggle he gave up his Sabbath work. God blessed him af- 
terwards. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 35 

LUTHER ON THE SABBATH. 

The following are extracts from Luther's writings as quoted by 
the Lutheran Observer, 

Its Institutions and Sacredness. " It is the demand of nature," 
says Luther, *' that man should refrain from labor, and rest one day 
in the week, .... which natural cause Moses also sets forth in the 
Sabbath, in order that he may set the Sabbath among men, as Christ 
also does (Matthew xii. 8 ; Mark ii. 27). The Sabbath existed before 
the law of Moses came, and had, indeed, been ordained from the be- 
ginning of the world for the service of God. If Adam had remained 
steadfast in his innocence, he yet would have kept holy the 
seventh day. Where the law of Moses and the law of nature are one 
thing, there the law remains. God sanctified the seventh day unto 
himself The force and might of the third [fourth] commandment 
lie, not in the resthig, but in the sanctifymg of the day ; for the 
proper idea of the Sabbath is, that we should teach and hear the word 
on God's day, in order that we may sanctify both the day and our- 
selves. The Sabbath is in itself a command for all the world. God 
will have this commandment strictly kept, and will punish those who 
break it." 

The Change of the Sabbath. " Christians have always kept Sun- 
day, not Saturday, and I believe that the Apostles transferred the 
Sabbath to Sunday (from the seventh to the first day of the week), 
otherwise no man would have been so audacious as to dare 
to do it. And I believe that they were moved thereto by 
the resurrection of Christ our Lord, and the sending of the 
Holy Ghost on Pentecost. The Sabbath (seventh day) is now 
changed for us into Sunday (the first day), and the other days 
are work days. Sunday (the Christian Sabbath) is the day of rest, or 
holy day, or sacred day. Would to God that there were no other 
holy day except Sunday in Christendom, and that all the festivals 
were put on Sunday ! and the half day of the afternoon should be 
holy to God, as well as the half day of the forenoon. ' ' 

Works of Mercy and Charity. "Works of necessity are, how- 
ever, allowable on the Sabbath day ; but such necessity must not be 
devised by men, but thrust upon them. Physicians, messengers and 
others are all excusable in case of necessity. But here it may be 
asked whether our Wittenbergers are excusable for shooting at the 
popinjay with the cross-bow on the sacred day, for that could be done 
on another day, and there is no necessity, nor love, nor requirement 
to excuse such a thing. The practice of inspecting arms and accou- 



36 'ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

trements on Sunday is to be regarded in the same way, as if that too 
could not be done on a week day ; and to this matter the attention of 
the magistrates should be directed." 

These quotations taken from the writings of Luther, speak for 
themselves. They are clear, discriminating, consistent with each 
other, and cover the whole ground. They prove that Luther re- 
garded the Sabbath — i. e., setting apart one day for rest in seven — as 
founded in nature and demanded by the physical and spiritual wants 
of man. He distinguished between its moral aspects which were per- 
petual and unchahangeable, and its ceremonial aspects which were 
temporal and changeable. As founded upon the eternal fitness of 
things, he maintained that its observance was obligatory upon all 
men before the law was promulgated from Sinai, even from the crea- 
tion, and will continue to be obligatory upon them to the end of 
time. While he insisted that the Jewish Sabbath, as an arbitrary in- 
stitution, was abrogated, he insisted just as stoutly that the Christian. 
Sabbath, as a moral institution, was substituted for the Jewish, and 
that all that pertained to the Sabbath originally as founded upon na- 
ture, and all that was contained in the Sabbatic commandment as a 
moral statute, had been transferred by the Apostles, under divine in- 
spiration, to Sunday, the Christian Sabbath. The late Dr. C. P. 
J^rauth, of Philadelphia, after a careful examination of Luther's 
writings on the Sabbath, forcibly remarks : "If Germany has not en- 
joyed a Christian Sabbath, it is because she has refused what the 
principles of Luther would have given her. The Sunday of Luther 
was an entire day, not a morning for the church and an afternoon for 
the beer saloon or the dance or idle saunter ; but a day for holy works 
and holy thoughts, a holy day, not a holiday. When, in his own 
matchless manner, he has overthrown the idea of intrinsic or cere- 
monial or meritorious sacredness in days or places or outward things 
under the New Dispensation, he regards no language too strong to 
mark how blessed and how necessary is the day of the Lord, nor how 
great is the guilt and peril of those who profane and neglect it." 

Violations of the Sabbath. "Those violate the Sabbath who do 
manual labor and business ; those who engage in feasting, surfeiting, 
drunkenness, dancing and wantonness ; those who indulge in sloth, 
sleep, idle talk and loitering about ; those who do not pray, meditate 
nor mourn over their sins, and who neglect the ordinances of God 
and lose the blessings of the sacred day. ' ' 

We may also add the testimony of Christ, who, as " Lord of the 
Sabbath," recognized its divine institution by declaring that " the 
Sabbath was made for man." And by rising from the dead, pouring 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 3/ 

out the Holy Spirit on the first day of the week, and by meeting with 
his Apostles assembled on that day for religious services, he sanc- 
tioned the change of the Sabbath from the seventh to the first 
day of the week, and by his example enforced its observance as the 
Christian Sabbath upon all his disciples until the end of the world. 

THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. 

j_5. Repeat the fourth commandment ? 

•" Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may 
be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. 

Ephesians vi. i. Children, obey your parents in the Lord : for 
this is right. 

Ephesians vi. 2. Honor thy father and mother, (which is the 
first commandment with promise.) 

Ephesians vi. 3. That it may be well with thee, and thou may- 
est live long on the earth. 

§6. What is the signification of this commandment ? 

That we should so fear and love God, as not to despise 
or displease our parents or superiors ; but honor, serve, 
obey, love and esteem them. 

57. What is required in the fourth commandment? 

In the fourth commandment we are required to honor 
our father and our mother, and those who are placed over 
, us, as our superiors, or associated with us as our equals, or 
placed under us as our inferiors. 

58. Of whom do our stiperiors consist ? 

Our superiors consist of our parents, masters, teachers 
or pastors, magistrates or rulers. 

5p. Of whom do our eqtials consist ? 

Our equals consist of our brothers and sisters, class- 
mates, and persons of the same rank with us. 

60. Of zvhom do our inferiors consist ? 

Our inferiors consist of our children, servants, scholars 
and subjects. 

61, By ivhom were these relations appointed f 

These relations were appointed by God, and are there- 
fore wise, and good, and right. 



38 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

62. What does this conima7tdnLent require more particu- 
larly of children towards their parents? 

This commandment requires more particularly that 
children should honor their parents, because they are de- 
pendent on them and receive much love and care from them. 

Children should also love, obey and respect their par- 
ents, and do this more so, as they grow in age and intelli- 
gence. 

6 J. How shoidd this honor to parents be manifested? 

The honor toward our parents should be manifested, 

1. Internally. 

2. Externally. 

6^. In what way do we honor our parents internally ? 

We honor our parents internally by esteeming them 
highly on account of their piety, intelligence and experi- 
ence, and because God has confided us to their care to 
nourish, protect and clothe us. 

6^. In what way do we honor our parents externally ? 

Externally we honor our parents, 

1. By our behavior, words and actions. 

2. By our obedience and cheerful services in all things 
pleasing to God. 

3. But especially by comforting and supporting them 
when they need our help in poverty, sickness or old age. 

66. Shoidd we obey our superiors zvhen they command 
us to sin ? 

When our parents or superiors command us to sin, we 
should not obey them, for we must obey God, rather than 
man. 

6y. How should we act towards our equals ? 

We should love, comfort, assist and respect our equals. 

68. How should we act toward our inferiors ? 

Towards our inferiors we should be condescending, 
kind, just and exemplary. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISxM. 39 

6g. What is forbidden in this commandment ? 

The fourth commandment forbids the neglect of the 
honor and duty which we owe to others who stand in rela- 
tion to us. 

yo. How do parents and superiors transgress this coin- 
mandinent f 

Parents transgress this commandment when they neg- 
lect the welfare of their children, and superiors when they 
neglect the welfare of their inferiors. 

yi. How do equals transgress this commandment ? 

Equals, such as brothers and sisters, transgress this 
commandment when they omit brotherly kindness and mu- 
tual respect. 

y2. How do inferiors transgress this commaitdment ? 

Children transgress this commandment when they do 
not honor their parents, servants their masters, learners 
their teachers or pastors, subjects their rulers. 

7J. What farther does this commandment more espec- 
ially forbid? 

The fourth commandment forbids tyranny over infer- 
iors ; disobedience by inferiors, and envy and malice by 
equals. This also applies to disobedience of parents by 
children, of employers by servants, and to strife between 
brethren. 

y^. What are the motives for the observance of this 
commandment ? 

The motives for the observance of this commandment 
are the following : 

I. The promise of long life and the divine blessing on 

those who honor their father and their mother. 

Ephesians vi. i. Children, obey your parents in the Lord : for 
this is risfht. 



40 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

2. The punishment threatened against violaters of 
this commandment. 

Prov. xix. 26. He that wasteth his father, and chaseth away his 
mother, is a son that causeth shame, and bringeth reproach. 

3. And gratitude for the benefits received from our 
parents. 

ANECDOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Scriptural Examples. Honor due to parents ; Shem and Japheth, 
Gen. ix. 23 ; Joseph, Gen. xlv- 9. Solomon, i Kings ii. 19, 20. Love: 
Joseph, Gen. xlvi. 29. Elisha, i Kings xix. 20. Obedience : Isaac, 
Gen. xxii. 6 ; Jacob, xxviii. i ; Joseph, xxxvii. 13. The Rechabites, 
Jer. XXXV. 18, 19. Jesus, Luke ii. 51. Gratitude: Joseph, Gen. xlv. 
II. David, I Sam. xxii. 3. Jesus : John, xix. 25-27. Jonathan, 
I Sam. xix. Bad children : Cain, Gen. iv ; Ham, ix. 2 ; Jocob's sons, 
xxxvii. Bli's sons, i Sam ii. 12, 15, 22-25 Samuels sons, Joel and 
Obia, viii. 1-5. Absalom, 2 Sam. xiii. i. Manasseh, 2 Chron. xxxiii. i. 

Children should provide for the wants of their aged parents, A 
farmer was one day ploughing near the summer residence of a king. 
The king happening to ride past the place where he was laboring, 
called to him in a kind tone, "You appear to be very industrious, my 
friend. Does this field belong to you, in which you are ploughing so 
busily ? " " No sir, ' ' said the farmer, who did not know the king, 
*' I am ploughing for wa^es." "And how much do you get for your 
labors." "Eight groats." " And what do you do with these eight 
groats ? " " Two groats are for me and my wife ; with two I pay my 
debts, two I invest in hope, and two I give away." 

The king did not quite understand the farmer's answer, and de- 
sired an explanation, which he gave as follows : "I have my parents 
at home with me, who are now old and feeble ; but as they nourished 
me in my childhood and brought me up to manhood, I am now also 
bound to sustain them in their old age ; this debt I daily pay off with 
two groats. The third pair of groats, which I invest in hope, I devote 
to the education of my children, for I hope, that when I cannot labor 
any longer, they will also support me. With the last two groats, 
which I give away, I support my two sickly sisters." The king was 
so much pleased with the way in which this poor laborer laid out his 
wages, that he gave him rich presents, and this enabled him to treat 
his aged parents and sick sisters with still greater kindness, and to 
give his children a more liberal education. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 4I 

Frederick, the late king of Prussia, having rung his bell one day, 
and nobody answering, opened the door, ard found the page in wait- 
ing, asleep on a sofa. He was just going to awake him when he per- 
ceived the end of a paper out of his pocket, on which something was 
written ; this excited his curiosity ; he pulled it out and found it to 
be a letter from the mother of the page, thanking him for having 
sent her a part of his wages, which had proved a very timely assist- 
ance to her, and, in conclusion, beseeching God to bless him for his 
filial duty. The king stepped softly to his room, took a roll of du- 
cats, and slipped them with the letter into the page's pocket. Re- 
turning to his apartment, he rung so violently that the page awoke, 
opened the door and entered. "You have been asleep," said the 
king. The page attempted to excuse himself; and in his embarras- 
ment, happened to put his hand into his pocket, felt with astonishment 
the roll. He drew it out, turned pale, and looking at the king, 
burst into tears, without being able to speak a word. "What is the 
matter ? " said the king, "what ails you ? " " Oh ! sire," said the 
young man, throwing himself at his majesty's feet, "somebody 
wishes to ruin me. I know not how I came by this money in my 
pocket." "What God bestows," resumed the king, "he bestows in 
sleep ; * send the money to your mother ; salute her in my name, 
and assure her, that I shall take care of both her and you." 

The danger occasioned by an awful eruption of Mount Etna, 
many years since, obliged the inhabitants of the adjacent country to 
flee in every direction for safety. Amidst the hurry and confusion of 
this scene, everyone carrying away what he deemed most precious, 
two sons, the one named Anaphias, the other Amphonimus, in the 
height of their solicitude for the preservation of their wealth and 
goods, recollected their father and mother, who, being both very old, 
-were unable to save themselves by flight Filial tenderness overcame 
every other consideration. "Where!" exclaimed the generous 
youths, "shall we find a more precious treasure than our parents ? " 
This said, the one took up his father on his shoulders, tiie other his 
mother, and so made their way through the surrounding smoke and 
flames. 

The judicious Hooker used to say, " If I had no other reason and 
motive for being religious, I would earnestly strive to be so for the 
«ake of my aged mother, that I might requite her care of me, and 
cause the widow's heart to sing for joy." 



* A German proverb. 



42 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

Among the multitude of persons who were proscribed under the 
second triumvirate of Rome, were the celebrated orator Cicero, and 
his brother Quintus. The latter found means to conceal himself so 
effectually at home that the soldiers could not find him. Enraged at 
their disappointment, they put his son to the torture in order to make 
hitD discover the place of his father's concealment; but filial affection 
was proof against the most exquisite torments. An involuntary sigh, 
and sometimes a deep groan were all that could be extorted from the 
youth. His agonies were increased, but with amazing fortitude he 
still persisted in his resolution of not betraying his father. Quintus 
was not far off, and it may be imagined better than can be expressed 
how his heart must have been affected with the sighs and groans of a 
son expiring in torture to save his life. He could bear it no longer, 
but, quitting the place of his concealment, he presented himself to 
the assassins, begging them to put him to death and dismiss the 
innocent youth. But the inhuman monsters, without being the least 
affected with the tears either of the father or of the son, answered 
that they must both die ; the father because he was proscribed, and 
the son, because he had concealed the father. Then a new contest of 
tenderness arose, who should die first ; but this the assassins soon de- 
cided, by beheading them both at the same time. 

Ancient history records that a certain city was besieged, and at 
length obliged to surrender. In the city there were two brothers 
who had in some way obliged the conquering general, and in conse- 
quence of this, received permission to leave the city before it was set 
on fire, taking with them as much of their property as each could 
carry about his person. Accordingly the generous youths appeared 
at the gates of the city, one of them carrying their father, and the 
other their mother. 

Pomponius Atticus, who pronounced a funeral oration on the 
death of his mother, protested that though he had resided with her 
sixty- seven years, he was never once reconciled to her ; ** because," 
said he, "there never happened the least discord between us, and 
consequently there was no need of reconciliation." 

Olympias, the mother of Alexander, was of so very unhappy and 
morose a disposition that he could not employ her in any of the af- 
fairs of government. She, however, narrowly inspected the conduct 
of others, and made many complaints to her son, which he always 
bore with patience. Antipater, Alexander's deputy to Europe, once 
wrote a long letter to him complaining of her conduct, to whom. 
Alexander returned this answer : " Knowest thou not, that one tear 
of my mother's will blot out a thousand such letters," 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 43 

When Epaminondas had won three battles over the Lacedemon- 
ians, the subject which gave him the most pleasure was that his 
father was living to enjoy the news. 

A deaf and dumb boy, thirteen years of age, educated in the 
school for such persons at Edinburg, after an absence of four years, 
went home to see his mother. When he entered her house in com- 
pany with his benefactor, she was sitting in a state of intoxication, 
which greatly affected him. He took his pencil and attempted to 
show her the evil and danger of such conduct, and gave her much 
good advice. After retiring with his friend, at whose house he went 
to lodge, his countenance became very sorrowful and the tears trick- 
led down his cheeks. 13 is friend asked him the occasion of all this, 
when he wrote that he \aa5 thinking if he got to heaven, how sorry 
he should be, not to find his mother there. 

A negro of one. of the kingdoms on the African coast, who had 
become insolvent, surrendered himself to his creditors, who, accord- 
ing to the established custom of 1 he country, sold him to the Danes. 
This affected his son so much that he came and reproached his father 
for not selling his children to pay his debts ; and after much entreaty, 
he prevailed on the captain to accept him, and liberate his father. 
The son was put in chains, and on the point of sailing to the West 
Indies ; when the circumstance coming to the knowledge of the Gov- 
ernor, through the means of Mr. Isert, he sent for the owner of the 
slaves, paid the money that he had given for the old man, and re- 
stored the son to his father. 

General George Washington, when quite young, was about to go 
to sea as a midshipman ; everything was arranged, the vessel lay op- 
posite his father's house, the little boat had come on shore to take 
him off, and his whole heart was bent on going. After his trunk 
had been carried down to the boat, he went to bid his mother fare- 
well, and saw the tears bursting from her eyes. However, he said 
nothing to her, but he saw that his mother would be distressed if he 
went, and perhaps never be happy again. He just turned round to 
the servant and said, " Go and tell them to fetch my trunk back. I 
will not go away to break my mother's heart." His mother was 
struck with his decision, and she said to him, " George, God has 
promised to bless the children that honor their parents, and I believe 
he will bless you." 

Valerius Maximus relates that a woman of distinction, having 
been condemned to be strangled, was delivered to the triumvir, who 
caused her to be carried to prison in order to be put to death. The 



44 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

jailer who was ordered to execute her, was struck with compunction, 
and could not resolve to kill her. He chose, however, to let her die 
with hunger ; but meanwhile suffering her daughter to visit her in 
prison, taking care that she brought her nothing to eat. Many days 
passed over in this manner, when the jailer at length,' surprised that 
the prisoner lived so long without food, took means of secretly ob- 
serving their interviews. He then discovered that the affectionate 
daughter had all the while been nourishing her mother with her own 
milk. Amazed at so tender and at the same time so ingenious an 
artifice, he related it to the triumvir, and the triumvir to the proctor, 
who thought the fact merited stating in the assembly of the people. 
This produced the happiest effects ; the criminal was pardoned, and 
a decree passed that the mother and daughter should be maintained 
for the remainder of their lives, at the expense of the public ; and 
that a temple, sacred to filial piety, should be erected near the prison. 

A certain farmer in Connecticut, possessing a small estate, was 
persuaded by his only son (who was married and lived "with his 
father), to give him a deed of the property. It was accordingly ex- 
ecuted. Soon the father began to find himself neglected ; next re- 
moved from the common table to a block in the chimney corner, to 
take the morsel of food reluctantly given him. At last the unnat- 
ural son resolved one day, to try to break the afflicted heart of his 
sire. He procured a block and began to hollow it. While at work, 
he was questioned by one of his children what he was doing. "I am 
making a trough for your grandfather to eat out of," was the reply. 
*'Ah," says the child, "and when you are as old as grandfather, 
shall I have to make a trough for you to eat out of ? " The instru- 
ment he was using fell from his hand, the block was cast on the fire ; 
the old man's forgiveness asked^ and he was restored to the situation 
to which his age and worth entitled him. 

There was once a man who had an only son, to whom he was 
very kind, and gave everything that he had. When his son grew up 
and got a house, he was very unkind to his poor old father, whom he 
refused to support and turned out of the house. The old man said to 
his grandson, "Go and fetch the covering from my bed, that I may 
go and sit by the wayside and beg." The child burst into tears, and 
ran for the covering. He met his father, to whom he said, "lam 
going to fetch the rug from my grandfather's bed, that he may wrap 
it around him and go a begging ! " Tommy went for the rug and 
brought it to his father, and said to him, " Pray, father, cut it in two, 
the half of it will be large enough for grandfather, and perhaps you 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 45 

may want the other half, when I grow a man and turn you out of 
doors. ' ' The words of the child struck him so forcibly that he im- 
mediately ran to his father, and asked forgiveness, and was very 
kind to him lill he died. 

A certain farmer in England had an only son, to whom he was 
greatly attached, and never could think of chastising him for his 
faults. When he arrived at the age of twelve years, he bade adieu to 
his father's house, and went with a band of gypsies. For nearly 
twenty years he was never heard of. It happened, however, that the 
old man was under the necessity of taking a journey a considerable 
way, with a large sum of money. He had to pass a wood, and as he 
went on, a man rushed from it, seized his horse, and demanded his 
money. The old man remonstrated with him. He would not hear, 
but again demanded his money. Most reluctantly he gave it up. 
The robber gazing at him, said, " Do you know me? " "No," said 
the old man. "Do you not know me?" he repeated. "No, I do 
not know you." "Well," said the robber, " I am your son ! " and 
returning his money, added, ' ' Had you corrected me when young, 
I might have been a comfort to you ; but now lam a disgrace to you, 
and a pest to society ! ' ' 

The Rev. Mr. Berridge being once visited by a loquacious young 
lady, who, forgetting the modesty of her sex, and the superior gravity 
of an aged divine, engrossed all the conversation of the interview 
with small talk concerning herself. When she rose to retire, he 
said, " Madam, before you withdraw, I have one piece of advice to 
give you ; and that is, when you go into company again, after you 
have talked half an hour without intermission, I recommend it to 
you to stop awhile, and see if any other of the company has anything 
to say." 

A clergyman was asked, when examined for orders by the bishop's 
chaplain, whether he had made divinity his study? he replied, that 
he had not particularly studied it ; " but, ' ' said he, ' ' my mother 
t ought me the scriptures." " Ah ! " said the chaplain, "mothers can 
do great things ! " The young man was examined with respect to 
the extent of his knowledge, was approved, ordained and desired to 
preach before the bishop. The excellent mother alluded to, in writ- 
ing to another of her sons, on the birth of his eldest child, says, 
"Give him an education that his life may be useful — teach him re- 
ligion that his death may be happy ? " 

Children are required to obey their parents in the lyord, for this 
is right. Eph. vi. i. It is important, however, that parents agree in 



46 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

their authority. The following anecdote will illustrate this necessity: 
A little girl, six years old, was repeating the fourth commandment in 
Sunday-school. Her teacher endeavored to show her in what way 
she was to honor her parents, and said, "You must honor your par- , 
ents by obeying them." " O ma'am," she said, " I cannot keep this 
commandment." "Why cannot you keep it, my dear ? " "Because, 
when my mother tells me to do one thing, my father tells me to do 
another. Now, just before I came here, my mother told me to stay 
upstairs and learn my lessons, and my father told me to come down 
and play. Now, how can I obey both? I cannot keep this com- 
mandment." 

When the Rev. Richard Cecil was but a little boy, his father had 
occasion to go to the India House in London, and he took his son 
with him. While he was transacting business the little fellow was 
dismissed, and told to wait at one of the doors. His father, on finish- 
ing his business, went out at another door, and entirely forgot his 
son. In the evening, his mother, missing the child, inquired where 
he was ; on which his father, suddenly recollecting that he directed 
him to wait at a certain door, said, " You may depend upon it he is 
still waiting where I appointed him." He immediately returned to 
the India House, and found his dear boy on the very spot where he 
had ordered him to remain. He knew that his father expected him 
to wait, and therefore he would not disappoint him. 

The disobedience rendered to parents is a fruitful source of crime 
and ruin to character. A young man was sentenced to a penitentiary 
for four years When he was about to be sentenced, he stated pub- 
licly that his downward course begaa in disobedience to his parents 
— that he thought he knew as much of tne world as his father did, 
and needed not his aid or advice ; but as soon as he turned his back 
upon his home, then temptations came round him like a drove of 
hyenas, and hurried him on to ruin. 

An undutiful son, who had given his father much trouble and 
uneasiness, and had almost brought down his gray hairs with sorrow 
to the grave, once called on his father on his birthday, to do him. 
honor. " Ah, my son," said his father, "the best way to honor me is 
to turn from the error of your ways. If you really respect me, learn 
to respect yourself : till then I can have no faith in your professions ; 
for how can I expect him to honor his father on earth, who dishon- 
ors his Father who is in heaven ? " 

* ' The promise announces the general purpose of God and a general 
principle of his providential government. * The hand of the diligent 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 47 

maketh rich ; ' that is the general rule, which is not invalidated if 
here and there a diligent man remains poor. It is well with obedi- 
ent children ; they prosper in the world. Such is fact, and such is 
the divine promise. The family being the corner-stone of social or- 
der and prosperity, it follows that those families are blessed in which 
God's plan and purpose are most fully carried out and realized." — 
Dr. Hodge. 

The pious ^^neas, in the epic poem of Virgil, obtained his hon- 
orable title from the care which he bestowed on his father at the 
siege of Troy, carrying him on his back till they were clear of danger. 

Christopherus Jonas, son of Justus Jonas the great theologian, 
and friend of Luther, was a talented young man. He enjoyed his 
learned and pious father's instructions, and also studied much in the 
schools and universities. But all this time he had despised his fath- 
er's admonitions and filled his heart with sorrow. In the year 1567, 
he was publicly beheaded in Copenhagen, on account of a great 
crime which he had committed. As they tied up his eyes, he ex- 
claimed, *' What benefit was it, that I studied much and did not do 
right?" 

When your pastor reproves you for your sins, he wishes to rescue 
you from temporal and eternal ruin. Do not act like the dog in the 
fable who fell into a well and showed his teeth and wanted to bite 
the hand of the farmer who tried to rescue him. But thank him, as 
you would a man who sees you lost in a dark forest and calls and 
guides you safely out, or as you would thank a man who had rescued 
you from a watery or fiery death. 

** Well, the master is gone," said a heathen slave to his christian 
fellow-slave, " now let us stop working and enjoy ourselves." " My 
Master is here yet, ' ' replied the christian slave, * ' from yonder heaven 
he looks down to see whether he shall reward or punish ; so I think 
I shall continue to work." 

Ambrosius says, pastors and teachers should receive such salaries, 
that on the one hand they may not be proud and on the other hand, 
that they may not be discouraged. Labor for souls cannot be done 
like that of a common day-laborer, but it requires enthusiasm, love, 
and a free and cheerful mind. 

A wicked son had once taken his father by the hair of his head 
and dragged him through the room. When he had dragged him as 
far as the door-step, the father cried out, ' * Drag me no farther, my 
son, for just this far I also once dragged my father." 



48 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

A widow in Marienburg, Prusia, bequeathed |ioco to the Mission 
Treasury, shortly before her death. Although she had made this be- 
quest only verbally, yet her son in-law hastened to pay the money 
into the treasury soon after her death. 

The cavalry captain Kurtzhagen, was invited to dine with King 
Frederick II. '* From what noble house are you descended?" asked 
the king. " From none whatever, " replied Kurtzhagen. "My par- 
ents are only poor country people, but I would not exchange them 
for any other parents in the world." " Well said," replied the king, 
** Woe to him who is so mean as to be ashamed of his parents." 

A heathen boy who attended the mission-school of the sainted 

•Rhenius, took sick His father brought an idol image to him at d 

urged him to sacrifice to the idol in order that he might get well. 

But the son took an axe and broke the idol to pieces to demonstrate 

to his father that the idol could not help him. 

As kind and loving as Luther was toward his children, so strict 
was he in the discipline of his family. He remarked, "I would 
rather have a dead, than a worthless and disobedient son." 

The theological students in one of our American Seminaries, 
were requested to report how many of them had pious mothers. 
They were surprised to learn that out of 120 students, iqo had pious 
mothers who had taught them to pray and exhorted them to lead 
christian lives. 

Nona, the pious mother of Gregory Nazianzen, took her first born 
to the church and consecrated him to God, praying that his life might 
be devoted to religion, and as it was often done in those days, she 
placed a New Testament in the child's hands. The recollection of 
this consecration made a deep impression on Gregory's mind. 

Monica, the mother of St. Augustine, prayed with tears for the 
conversion of her son, and also urged pious christians to interest 
themselves in his behalf. A bishop to whom she appealed, said to 
her, " Be of good comport, the son for whom you shed so many tears, 
and offer so many prayers to God, cannot be lost. ' ' And afterwards, 
when he really did become a devoted christian, he said to his mother, 
"I believe that I am indebted to your prayers for my faith in Christ." 

A father reproved his son for cursing and swearing, telling him 
to remember that God hears everything. "Does he, indeed," said 
the boy, "and can he also see everything? " "Certainly," said the 
father. "Then," said the boy, "lam sorry for you, father, for he 
also saw you drunk yesterday evening. ' ' 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 49 

The son of a heathen father attended the mission-school of Rev. 
Rhenius in the East Indies. One day the father came to the teacher 
and said, ' ' If my son remains much longer in your school, he will not 
get along in the world, because he will not tell any more lies, but 
always speaks the truth. ' ' 

One day Pastor Oberlin asked his servant girl the cause of the 
sadness which he saw in her face. "O sir," said she, "I have just 
been thinking that there will be no servants in heaven, and then I 
was so sorry to think that I should not be able to serve you when we 
get to heaven." 

An English minister was urged at a banquet to drink the health 
of the king. He replied, " I beg your pardon, my lords, I will pray 
for the health of the king." 

THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT. 

75. Repeat the Fifth Commandment. 
" Thou shalt not kill." 

Geresis ix. 6. Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his 
blood be shed : for in the image of God made he man. 

Matt. V 21. Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time. 
Thou shalt not kill ; and whosoever shall kill, shall be in danger of 
the judgment. 

Numbers xxxv. 16. And if he smite him with an instrument'of 
iron, so that he die, he is a murderer : the murderer^ shall surely be 
put to death. 

j6. What is the meaning of this commandment ? 

That we should so fear and love God, as not to do our 
neighbor any bodily injury; but rather assist and comfort 
him in danger or want. 

77. What is the desigft of this commandment? 
The design of the fifth commandment is the protection 
of human life. 

y8. What is forbidden in this commandment ? 
The fifth commandment forbids 

1. Murder, whereby the lives of human beings are 
unlawfully taken. 

2. Suicide, whereby persons become their own mur- 
derers, and for which their is no more opportunity for re- 
pentance. 



50 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

3. Whatever is injurious to our health, such as intem- 
perance in eating or drinking, unhealthy fashions, bad ven- 
tilation and uncleaniiness. 

4. Whatever is injurious to our own or others health, 
such as selling or giving intoxicating liquors to drink, or 
adulterated food to eat, or overworking those who are in 
our employ. 

yg. In what ways may this commandment be violated ? 
The fifth commandment may be violated, 

1. Internally, in our hearts, or 

2. Externally, by our actions. 

80. How is this commandment violated internally or in 
our hearts ? 

The fifth commandment may be violated internally or 
in our hearts, 

1. By angry feelings against our neighbors. 

2. By hatred of our neighbor. 

3. By envy of our neighbor. 

81. How is this commandment violated externally ? 
The fifth commandment may be violated externally 

1. Designedly, or 

2. Undesignedly. 

82. How may this commaitdment be violated designedly ? 
The fifth commandment may be violated externally 

and designedly by 

I. Angry, hypocritical or mocking gesticulations. 

Genesis iv. 5. But unto Cain, and to his offering, he had not re- 
spect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. 

Genesis iv 6. And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth ? 
and why is thy countenance fallen ? 

Jeremiah ix. 8. Their tongue is as an arrow shot out ; it speak- 
eth deceit : one speaketh peaceably to his neighbor with his mouth, 
but in heart he layeth his wait. 

Matt, xxvii. 29. And when they had platted a crown of thorns, 
they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand : and they 
bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of 
the Jews ! 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 5 I 

2. Hard, insulting or bitter words ; also by treachery, 
revilings and slanderings, whereby others may be mortally 
grieved. 

Jeremiah xviii. i8. Then said they, Come, and let us devise de- 
vices against Jeremiah ; for the law shall not perish from the priest, 
nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, 
and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any 
of his words 

Rom. iii, 13. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their 
tongues they have used deceit ; the poison of asps is under their lips. 

3. Actions, when we purposely injure ourselves or 
others in body or soul. 

2 Sam. xi. 15 And he wrote in tbe letter, saying, Set ye Uriah 
in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he 
may be smitten, and die. 

8j. How may this cominandnient be undesignedly vio- 
lated? 

The fifth commandment may be undesignedly violated 
hy 

1. Intemperance in eating or drinking. 

2. Lust. Sir. xix. 2. * 

3. Immoderate grief. 

2 Cor. vii. 10. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation 
not to be repented of : but the sorrow of the world worketh death. 

4. Rashness, or unnecessary exposure to danger. 
Sir. iii. 27. 

. S/j.. What is reqidred of us in this commandment ? 
In the fifth commandment we are required to seek the 
preservation of our own and others' bodily and spiritual 
life, as in cases of sickness or temptations. 

Romans xiii 14. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make 
not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof. 

James v. 9. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be 
condemned : behold, the Judge standeth before the door. 

James v. 12. But above all things, my brethren, swear not, 
neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath : 
but let your yea, be yea ; and your nay, nay ; lest ye fall into con- 
demnation. 



* These quotations are from tbe Apocrypha, and are not given as 
3ture Droof-texts. 



scripture proof-texts 



52 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

8^. Who may lawfully take away human life ? 

1. Magistrates, as " God's ministers in executing ven- 
geance," are commanded to put murderers to death. 
" Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be 
shed." 

2. Witnesses and executioners may also concur in 
such capital punishment. 

3. It is also lawful to take another's life in self-defence, 
when he attempts to murder us, for by this he forfeits his 
own life, and there is no opportunity of referring the cause 
to a civil magistrate. 

4. Some wars, especially defensive wars, when our 
country is invaded, are necessary and unavoidable, and the 
blood shed in them is not computed as murder. But all 
wars waged merely for conquest or revenge are wholesale 
murders. 

86. What particular classes may farther be designated 
as murderers ? 

1. Duelists are murderers, for each duelist is intent 
upon murdering his antagonist. 

2. Prize fighters are murderers, and the blood shed 
by them is murder. 

3. Liquor sellers are murderers, for they know that 
their business ruins thousands of people in soul and body. 

8y. What are the motives for the observance of this 
commandment? 

1 . The blood shed by the murderer crieth up to God 
for vengeance. 

Genesis iv. 10, And he said, What hast thou done ? the voice of 
thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. 

2. God has threatened to punish the murderer. 

Whoso sheddeth mans blood, etc. 

Bzekiel iii. 17. Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto 
the house of Israel : therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give 
them warning from me. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 53 

Kzekiel iii. i8. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely 
die ; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the 
wicked from his wicked way, to save his life ; the same wicked 
man shall die in his iniquity ; but his blood will I require at thy hand. 

Kzekiel iii. 21. Nevertheless, if thou warn the righteous man, 
that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, 
because he is warned ; also thou hast delivered thy soul. 

3. The ruin of the soul brings with it unspeakable 
woe, occasioned by provocation or evil example. 

Matthew xviii. 6. But, whoso shall offend one of these little 
ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone 
were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth 
of the sea. 

Matthew xviii. 7. Woe unto the world because of offences ! for 
it must needs be that offences come ; but woe to that man by whom 
the offence cometh ! 

Romans xiv. 15. But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, 
now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, 
for whom Christ died. 

ANECDOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Scriptural Examples. /. Love to our neighbor. The Good Sa- 
maritan, lyukex 33 36. Abraham and Lot, Gen. xiv. 14-16. Joseph 
and his fellow prisoners, Gen. xl. 7. Moses and his brethren, ;^x. ii. 
11-15. David mourns over Saul, 2 Sam. i. 12. Absalom, 2 Sam. xviii. 
33. Christ laments over Israel, Matt, xxiii. 27. Cain is jealous of 
Abel, Gen. iv. 4, 5. Joseph's brethren jealous. Gen. xxxvii. 11. 
Ahab jealous of Naboth, i Kings xxi. 4. The high priests envious of 
Christ, Matt, xxvii. 18. 

2. Injure no one in body or soul. Joseph's brethren transgress 
this commandment, Gen. xxxvii. 18. The high priests, John xi. 53. 
Saul, Acts viii. i. The Jews, Actsix. 23. Actual murder, Cain, Gen. 
iv. Abimelech, Judges ix. 1-5. As accomplices to murder, David> 
2 Sam. xi. Jezebel, i Kings xxi. Judas and Pilate, Matt. xxvi. 

J. Punished with death by the com,mand of God. Profane swear- 
ers, Levit. xxiv. 10 14. The Sabbath desecrator. Num. xv. 32-36. 
The destruction of Jericho, Joshua vi. Achan, Joshua vii. 25. Elijah 
slaughters the priests of Baal, i Kings xviii. 

Life is considered precious in the sight of God. 

I. We are to use all lawful endeavors to preserve our own life. 

1. The life of the body, by proper food, raiment and residence; 
by self-defence against injury ; by self-defence against irregular appe- 
tites and passions. 

2. The life of the soul, by seeking salvation from sin, and by 
doing the will of God. 



54 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

II. We are to use all lawful endeavors to preserve the life of 

others. 

1. Their bodily life, by kindness, protection, and provision in 

time of need. 

2. Their spiritual life, by prayer, instruction in the gospel, 

and christian sympathy. 

ill. Bndeavors to preserve life must be lawful. We are not to 
break one law to keep another, or to do evil that good may come. 
Sinful compliance to save life endangers the soul and dishonors God. 
Martyrs died rather than deny Christ. 

1. God is to be glorified with our bodies and spirits, which 

are his. 

2. Bach man is his brother's keeper. 

3. The science and practice of medicine are followed for the 
purpose of preserving life. 

4. Philanthropic institutions have arisen for the same end. 

In the fifth commandment is forbidden 
r. The taking away of our own life. 

1. By violence— as Abithophel and all suicides. 

2. By sinful indulgences— such as intemperance, carnal 

pleasures. 

3. By neglecting proper means for health. 

4. By neglecting the salvation of the soul. 

II. The taking away of our neighbor's life unjustly. 

1. This is done by murder, as Cain did. 

2. By persecution and oppression. 

3. By tempting to sin, as to drink or any crime. 

III. lyife may sometimes be taken justly, as in defence of one's 
own life or the life of others, or in defensive war, or for murder. 

1. *' No murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.' ' i John 

iii. 15. 

2. The neglect of sanitary laws may cause the loss of life. 

3. It is an awful thing to be guilty of the ruin of others, in 
soul or body, or both. 

Sir Theodore Mayem on his death-bed, gave this advice to a noble 
friend who asked counsel regarding the preservation of his health : 
" Be moderate in your diet, use much exercise and little physic." 

The old adage will not be out of place here, — 

** Early to bed, and early to rise, 
Will make a man healthy, wealthy and wise," 

The preaching of the Gospel has been the means of saving many 
souls, and of making life more precious, both in this world and in the 
world to come. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 55 

"It is conceivable that men who do not believe in God or in a 
future state of existence, should think it allowable to take refuge in 
annihilation from the miseries of this life ; but it is unaccountable, 
except on the assumption of temporary or permanent insanity, 
that any man should rush uncalled into the retribution of 
eternity. Suicide, therefore, is self murder. It is the desertion of 
the post which God has assigned us ; it is a deliberate refusal to sub- 
mit to his will ; it is a crime which admits of no repentance, and con- 
sequently involves the loss of the soul." —Dr. Hedge. 

Alexander the Great once invited several of his friends and offi- 
cers to a feast, and offered a reward to him who would drink most. 
Promachus won the prize, having swallowed fourteen measures of- 
wine — that is, eighteen pints. He received a crown worth a talent, 
but survived his victory only three days. Of the rest, forty died from 
excessive drinking. Alexander also soon drank himself to death. 

Anger among boys has often led to crime, and sometimes to 
murder. 

The worship of Juggernaut has often led to suicide in India. 

The great Spanish captain Gonsalvo was asked on his death-bed 
what had given him the greatest satisfaction in the course of his long 
and glorious life. He replied, that it was the consideration that he 
never drew his sword but in the service of God and of his sovereign. 

The Apostle John attained to a very high age. In the latter years 
of his life he couLi no longer walk to the church. Young men, there- 
fore, carried him there ; at Jast he could no longer preach a sermon to 
the congregation ; then he constantly repeated these words, " Little 
children, love one another." When asked why he so constantly re- 
peated these words, he replied, " Because it is the command of the 
Lord, and if this command is kept, all the others will be obeyed also." 

When St. Patrick, the apostle to the Irish, began his mission from 
Brittain to Ireland, in the 5th century, many exclaimed, " Why does 
he expose himself to danger among the heathen who know not the 
Lord." 

Bishop Spangenberg, of the Moravian Church, preached on one 
occasion in Lancaster, Pa., on the text, '' Father, forgive them ; they 
know not what they (io," whilst stones were thrown at his head. A 
justice of the peace was present, and expected every moment that the 
preacher would den' unce those wicked people. But when he heard 
him pray for them, the prayer was the occasion of his own conversion, 
and the enemies ceased their opposition. 



56 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

When Charles the V. (the same before whom Luther stood at the 
diet of Worms), occupied Halle, a Spanish captain was quartered in 
the house of Justus Jonas, with the secret order to murder him, as he 
was one of the strongest pillars of the Protestant religion. But after 
Jonas had received the captain so very kindly, he said to him, 
" Doctor Jonas, I cannot conceal from you that I was ordered to put 
you to death, but I see that you are such an honest and pious man, 
that I cannot possibly do you any harm." 

In 1750 intemperance had increased to such a degree, that the 
liquor dealers gave the following notice on their signs, " For ten pen- 
nies, whiskey enough to intoxicate ; twenty pennies, enough to make 
dead drunk, and straw to lie upon till you get sober again." 

A liquor dealer who had become a member of a temperance so- 
ciety, felt himself driven by conscience to throw his large stock of li- 
quors into the sea, because he saw no other way to dispose of them 
without causing injury lo his fellow-men, even if he had sold the 
liqUors and devoted the amount to benevolent purposes. 

Alfred, king of Kngland, kept a wax candle in his room which 
burned twenty-four hours ; every hour was marked upon the candle, 
and a servant was appointe 1 to announce to the king when an hour's 
length was burned down. 

A Hottentot who was a g reat drinker and slave of every vice, was 
converted to Christianity. He took his last bottle of whiskey and 
broke it to pieces. Some of his tribe told him it would be injurious 
to his health to stop drinking so suddenly. But he replied, " Rather 
that the body should die, than that soul and body should perish." 

One of the old church fathers was asked how old he was, and he 
replied, "Forty-five years " The questioner said, **I took you to be 
seventy years old." "That maybe," replied the church father, 
■ 'Yet you must know that I do not count the foolish, sinful years of 
my youth, as a part of my age, because they cannot properly be called 
life." 

A foolish woman in France bequeathed a certain amount for the 
support and keeping of her favorite cat, but also ordered in her will 
that all heirs must pay a weekly visit to this cat on pain of loosing 
their inheritance. In consequence, a great law suit ensued, but the 
cat lost the case. 

The capuchin monk. Felix, once saw a Roman lady hug and kiss 
her lap dog, and said to her, '* How much better it would be for you 
if you would love your God as much as you love this beast." 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. . 5/ 

It is the divine order that the blood of the murderer shall be shed 
on the place of execution. By the hand of the hangman he receives 
his doom. Therefore, God often arranges in his providence, that the 
murderers frequently reveal or betray themselves, or that their crimes 
are discovered in a wonderful way. 

When Meinhard, the duke of Sulgard, in Suabia, had retired from 
the world, built a cell for himself in a dark forest and became a her- 
mit, two robbers came and murdered him in the hope of finding gold 
or treasure in his cell. As he was dying by their hands, he saw two 
ravens flying and said, " The ravens will testify against you." Some- 
time afterwards, while they were sitting in a restaurant, they saw 
some ravens flying around the house, and one of them said, "See, 
there are some of Meinhard's witnesses flying about." This remark 
was reporfed to the officers ; they were arrested, and when they con- 
fessed the crime, they were put to death and their bodies consumed 
with fire. 

When the Swiss confederates were defeated by the French, near 
Basle, in a battle which lasted a whole day, a French officer rode over 
the battle-field among the slain with uncovered head, that he might 
keep cool and enjoyed seeing the blood streaming over the ground, 
he exclaimed, "See here! we are wading through beds of roses!" 
These shameful words were heard by a deeply wounded confederate, 
who raised himself up on his knees, grasped a big stone and hurled it 
it with such force against the officer's head that he fell from his horse 
and died. 

Lewis XIII had many enemies before he became king of France, 
who had always opposed him. After he became king he had a list of 
them made out and made a black cross before each name When 
his enemies heard this they were very much alarmed and fled in 
haste. But the king had them called back with the assurance of his 
forgiveness, and said to them, * * Be of good cheer, my friends. I put 
a cross before each of your names, in order that I might be constantly 
reminded of the cross of Christ, and think of the words he spoke on 
the cross, " Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. 

The Romans had a law, that no person should approach the em- 
peror's tent in the night, upon pain of death ; but it once happened, 
that a soldier was found in that situation, with a petition in his hand, 
waiting for an opportunity of presenting it. He was apprehended, 
and going to be immediately executed ; but the emperor having over- 
heard the matter in his pavilion, cried aloud, saying, "If the petition 



58 . ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

be for himself, let him die ; if for another, spare his life." Upon in- 
quiry, it was found that the generous soldier prayed for the lives of 
his two comrades who had been taken asleep on the watch. The em- 
peror nobly forgave them all. 

It is recorded of John Dod, that one night, very late, he felt 
strongly moved to visit a gentleman of his acquaintance, who lived at 
some distance Not knowing what might be the design of Provi- 
dence in this, he went. Having come to the house and knocked at 
the door, the gentleman himself opened it ; to whom Mr. Dod said, 
** I am come to you, I know not wl y myself, but I was restless in my 
spirit till I had done it." The gentleman replied, '* You know not 
why you came; but God knew why he sent you." On which he 
pulled out the halter with which he intended to take away his own 
life, which by this means was happily prevented. 

THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT. 

88. Repeat the sixth commandment. 
" Thou shalt not commit adultery." 

Heb. xiii. 4. Marriage is honorable in all, and the bedundefiled: 
but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. 

Matt. V. 27. Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, 
Thou sh»lt not commit adultery : 

Matt. V. 32. But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away 
his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit 
adultery : and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced, commit- 
teth adultery. 

I Cor. vi. 18. Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth, 
is without the body ; but he that committeth fornication, sinneth 
against his own body. 

I Cor. vi. 19. What ! know ye not that your body is the temple 
of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are 
not your own ? 

8g. What do you understand by this commandment ? 

That we should so fear and love God, as to live chaste, 
and undefiled in words and deeds, and each to love and 
honor his wife or her husband. 

go. What is required in this commandment ? 

The sixth commandment requires chastity by both 
married and unmarried persons. 

Heb. xiii. 4. Marriage/.? honorable in all, and the bed undefiled: 
but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 59 

gi. What is the design of this commandment ? 

The design of the sixth commandment is, 

1. The preservation of the sanctity of the married 
relation ; 

2. The mutual aid and happiness of married persons; 

3. The propagation of the human race; 

4. The building up of the kingdom of God through 
christian nurture of children. 

g2. When and by whom was marriage instituted? 

Marriage was instituted by God in Paradise, when he 
said, " It is not good for man to be alone, I will make a 
help meet for him." 

pj. What is marriage ? 

Marriage is a covenant between one man and one 
woman, in which they are bound by God's ordinance and 
by their own personal vows, to love and faithfulness until 
separated by death. 

g^.. What is forbidden in this commandment ? 

In the sixth commandment all things which tend to its 
violation are forbidden, such as 

I. Evil, sensual thoughts; 



2. Obscene or impure pictures ; 

3. Bad or unclean books or papers ; 
Lewd stories and jokes ; 
Worldly dancing; 
Attendance at theatres. 

p5. In what ways is this commandment violated ? 
The sixth commandment may be violated 

1. Internally and 

2. Externally. 



6o ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

()6. How may this commandment be violated internally f 

The sixth commandment may be violated internally, 

or in the heart by unchaste desires. 

Matthew v. 28. But I say iinto you, That whosoever looketh on 
a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already 
in his heart. 

p/. How may this commandment be violated externally ? 
The sixth commandment may be violated externally 

1. By shameless or impudent behavior, as in unchaste 
dances or plays, improper clothing or exposure ; 

2. By indecent words, unchaste songs or stories ; 

3. By actual commission of adultery or fornication, 
or'secret impurity. 

PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS. 

THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT ADULTERY. 

This commandment forbids every form of sensuality in 
act or thought. 

I. The most fearful denunciations of Scripture are 

against sensuality. 
II. Nature protests against it. 

III. It breaks down the moral principles. 

IV. It does violence to the virtues. 

V. It ruins others ; it involves other persons in guilt. 
VI. It leads to every other sin. 
VII. . It frustrates the great end of human life. 

CONCLUSION. 

I. Beware of beginnings. 

II. Give this passion no allowance in your thought. 

III. Be watchful against the least temptation. 

IV. Avoid bad associates. 

V. Avoid every incentive to vice in dress, in fashion. 
VI. Attend to the words of wisdom. 

VII. Give your hearts to Christ. — Warren, 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 6 1 

g8. By what means do we preserve chastity in ourselves? 
We preserve chastity in ourselves 

1. By constant thoughts of God and reflections on his 

attributes, such as the Omniscience, Omnipresence and 

Hohness of God and Christ. 

Psalm xxxvii. 4. Delight thyself also in the Lord ; and he shall 
give thee the desires of thy heart. 

2. By prayer. 

Ps. li. 12. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation ; and uphold 
me with thy free Spirit. 

3. By watchfulness over ourselves. 

Mark xiii. 13. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's 
sake : but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 

4. By temperance in eating and drinking. 

Rom. xiii. 4. For he is the minister of God to thee for good. 
But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid ; for he beareth not the 
sword in vain : for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute 
wrath upon him that doeth evil. 

5. By industry in a proper employment. 

I Timothy iv. 10. For therefore, we both labor and suffer re- 
proach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all 
men, especially of those that believe. 

6. By avoiding temptations, such as bad company, 
bad books, indecent pictures, impure songs or unchaste 
conversation. 

gg. What motives should urge us to the keeping of this 
comm,andment ? 

. The motives for the observance of the sixth com- 
mandment are 

I. The punishment thre^ened in the Scriptures on 
its violators. 

Leviticus xx. 10. And the man that committeth adultery with 
another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neigh- 
bor's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. 

Bzekiel xxiii. 46. For thus saith the Lord God ; I will bring up 
a company upon them, and will give them to be removed and spoiled. 

Ezekiel xxiii. 48. Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the 
land, that all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness. 



62 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 



2. The reward of chastity. Joseph became ruler of 
Egypt by faithfulness to this commandment. 

I Cor. vi. 17. But he that is joined unto the Ivord is one spirit. 

Gen. xli. 43. And he made him to ride in the second chariot 
which he had : and they cried before him, Bow the knee : and he 
made him ruler over all the land of Egypt. 

3. Also that our body and spirit are not our own, 

but God's. 

I Cor. vi. 19. What ! know ye not that your body is the temple 
of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are 
not your own. 

ANECDOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Scriptural Examples. We should be chaste and pure in words 
and deeds. Noah and Ham, Gen. ix. 20-22. Shem and Japhet, verse 
23. Lot and the Sodo-nites, Gen. xix. Joseph and Potiphar's wife, 
Gen. ix. Boaz, Ruth iii. 17, 18. 

Loving and honoring his wife — her husband. Adam and Eve, 
Gen. ii. 18-24. Abraham, Gen. xxiv. 3. The Pharisees and divorce, 
Matt xix. 3-9. The disciples, verse 10-12. Joseph and Mary, Matt, 
ii. 14-23. Pilate's wife, Matt, xxvii. 19. Job's wife. Job ii. 9. 
Michal, 2 Sam. vi. 16. 

This commandment is of great importance to the welfare of so- 
ciety atid of the individual. 

I. It requires a pure heart. This is to be gotten and kept by 
the grace of God's Spirit, and by obeying the will of God. 

II. It requires chaste speech and behavior. The moral tone of 
God's Word is the best influence in human speech. Purity of life is 
promoted by temperance, self-restraint, and by prudent marriage. 

III. It requires us to preserve the chastity of others in these 
things as much as we can. This can be done by good example, in 
looks, words and behavior ; by avoiding temptations to sin ; by coun- 
sel and warning when necessary ; and by preventing public tempta- 
tions to sin. It can be aided bf keeping early hours at night. — Steel. 

I. This commandment forbiddeth all unchaste thoughts. 
Thoughts stir up desires, and act like a spark in powder. 

II. Unchaste words. Immodest expressions are polluting, and 
are sinful. We must give an account to God for our words : Matt, 
xii. 36, 37. 

III. Unchaste actions These make the sin still greater, destroy 
character, and promote many evils. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 65 

IV. Whatsoever tends to un chastity is condemned. Immodest 
manner of dress, the reading of books descriptive of immodesty, the 
breach of marriage vows, or making rash vows of celibacy, should be 
guarded against. — R. Steel. 

Lessons. 

1. Walking in the Spirit prevents the lusts of the flesh. 

2. The body should be made a temple of the Holy Ghost. 

The Scriptures give the law regarding behavior of the sexes to- 
each other, and regarding marriage. When these laws are trans- 
gressed society always suffers. Young people cannot be too particu- 
lar in modesty, as there are so many temptations to sin. — R. Steel. 

A notorious adulterer had received fatal injuries by a fall. His 
wife asked him where he felt most pain, and he answered, " In my soul 
I feel most pain, for already I feel the eternal torment." 

A young woman found a gold ring and rejoiced very much. But 
as she examined it closer, she found to her regret that the jewel or 
diamond had been lost out of it. "My child," said her mother, 
" this gold ring without its jewel is like youth and beauty when honor 
and virtue are lost. 

The daughter of a christian man in Wittenberg was engaged to- 
marry a physician of- that city. A fire consumed the house, every- 
thing was lost and the family narrowly escaped with their lives. 
Some one asked the daughter, what she could now bring to her bride- 
groom. ** Every thing," she replied, *' that he sought in me, namely 
a pure body, a willing heart and a faithful mind." 

Young married people should regard their engagement vows like 
Ruth, " Whither thou goest, I will go ; and where thoulodgest, I will 
lodge ; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God ; Where 
thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so* 
tome, arid more, if aught but death part thee and me." Ruth i.. 
16, 17. 

When a suitor paid attention to Sybilla, daughter of Paul Rich- 
ter, she entered into her closet and prayed thus, ** My dear Father in 
heaven, grant me a companion, who loves thy word, then I am sure 
he will for thy sake also love me." Her prayer was heard and an- 
swered, for she became the wife of Johann Matthesius. 

The husband shall love his wife like Christ loves the church; 
namely, with an entire, exclusive, constant and protective love. 

The wife shall love her husband like the church loves Christ ; 
namely, with an entire, exclusive, constant and dutiful love. 



'64 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

Man and wife shall be to each other like the two eyes in our 
head; namely they shall together look about or around, and they 
shall together look upwards namely to heaven, and when the one is 
injured the other weeps. 

When Emperor Conrad declared war against Welf, Duke of Bav- 
aria, the Duke entrenched himself with all his army in the city of 
Weinsberg. The Kmperor besieged the city so long, that the Duke 
and his people were on the verge of starvation, and they were com- 
pelled to tender their unconditional surrender. But before this was 
done the good wives of the city sent a petition to the Emperor, be- 
seeching him that he would permit them to leave the city and take 
with them as much of their most valuable possessions as each one 
could carry. The Emperor granted their petition, supposing that 
they meant their jewelry and clothing. But each one carried her 
husband on her back, and led her little children by the hand, and 
thus they marched out of the city. The Emperor's officers mur- 
mured mightily, contending that this was not the intention of the 
permission. But the Emperor was so much pleased with this display 
of the love and faithfulness of the Weinsberg wives, that he kept his 
word and invited the wives together with their husbands to a sump- 
tuous feast, and concluded a lasting peace with the city. 

Once upon a time, it is related, a pious man prayed to God that 
he would let him know how he could keep house and live happy in 
the married life. Then there was shown him a vision of three an- 
gels. The first angel knelt and prayed, **I lift up mine eyes to the 
hills whence cometh my help." The other angel had a hoe with 
which he dug in the ground and sought for roots and vegetables, 
saying, ** In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread." The 
third angel gathered the roots and vegetables, that had been dug up 
and said, ''That which we save by economy increases," and then car- 
ried them into the cottage in which the three angels all dwelt to- 
,gether. This is beautiful and signifies, we should i. pray, 2. work, 
.3. economize, and 4. live together in angelic love and unity. 

Mr. Newton, as a commander of a slave ship, had a number of 
women under his absolute command ; and knowing the danger of his 
situation on that account, he resolved to abstain from flesh in his 
food, and to drink nothing stronger than water during the voyage ; 
that by abstemiousness he might subdue every improper emotion. 
Upon his setting sail, the sight of a certain point of land, was the 
signal for his beginning a rule which he was enabled to keep. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 65^ 

Dr. Hugh lyatimer, one of the primitive reformers, was made 
Bishop of Worcester in the reign of Henry VII F. It was the custom 
of those times for each of the bishops to make presents to the king 
on new year's day. Bishop lyatimer went with the rest of his breth- 
ren, to make the usual ofifering ; but instead of a purse of gold, he 
presented the king with a New Testament, in which was a leaf doub- 
led down to this passage : 

" Whoremongers and adulterers God will judge," 

A lady of suspected chastity, and who was tinctured with infidel 
principles, conversing with a minister of the gospel, objected to the 
Scriptures on account of their obscurity, and the great difficulty of 
understanding them. The minister wisely and smartly replied — 
"Why, madam, what can be easier to understand than the com- 
mandment, Thou shaH not commit adultery. , 

Anthony William Boehm, a German divine, once preached from 
Exod. XX 14. "Thou shalt not commit adultery." A Chevalier, 
who was one of his hearers, felt himself S3 much offended and in- 
sulted, that he challenged Boehm to fight a duel, because he thought 
his sermon designed entirely to offend hitn, Boehm accepted the 
challenge, and appeared in his robes, but instead of a pistol, he had 
the Bible in his hand, and spoke to him in the following manner : "I 
am sorry you were so much offended when I preached against that 
destructive v'ce ; at the time I did not even think of you : here I ap- 
pear with the sword of the Spirit, and if your conscience condemns 
you, I beseech you for your own salvation, to repent of your sins, 
and lead a new life. If you will, then fire at me immediately : for I 
would willingly lose my life, if that might be the means of saving 
your soul." The Chevalier was so struck with this language, that he 
embraced him, and solicited his friendship. 

It is said that Henry the Great, of France, took much pleasure in 
conversing with an honest and religious man of low situation in life, 
who used great freedom with his majesty. One day he said to the 
king, " Sure, I always takt your part when I hear any man speaking 
evil of you ; I know that you excel in justice and generosity, and 
that many worthy things have been done by you. But you have one 
vice for which God will condemn you if you do not repent, I mean 
the unlawful love of women." The king, it is said, was too magnan- 
imous to resent this reproof, but he long felt it like an airow in his 
bosom ; and sometimes said, that the most eloquent discourses of the 
doctors of the Sorbonne had never made such an impression on his 
soul, as this honest reproof from his humble friend. 



^6 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT. 

100, What is the seventh commandment ? 

" Thou shalt not steal." 

Lev. xix. II. Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie 
one to another. 

I Thess. iv. 6. That no man go beyond and defraud his brother 
in any matter : because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as 
we also have forewarned you and testified. 

Bphes. iv. 28. Let him that stole, steal no more : but rather let 
him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he 
may have to give to him that needeth 

I Tim. vi. 6. But godliness with contentment is great gain. 

I Tim. vi. 10. For the love of money is a root of all evil : which 
while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced 
themselves through with many sorrows. 

loi. What is meant by this comm,andment ? 

That we should so fear and love God, as not to rob 
our neighbor of his property, or bring it into our possession 
by unfair dealing or fraudulent means; but help him to 
augment and protect it. 

102. What is forbidden in this commandment? 

In the seventh commandment is forbidden all means 
of obtaining property in a dishonest way, such as theft or 
robbery, which is taking the property of our neighbor un- 
righteously and without his knowledge or consent, 

70J. In what ways can this commandment be violated? 

The seventh commandment can be violated 

1. Openly and 

2. Secretly. 

lo/j.. How is this commandment violated openly ? 

The seventh commandment is violated openly 

I. By violence which is called robbery, and consists 
in violently or forcibly taking our neighbor's money or 
goods and compelling him to- surrender them. > 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 6/ 

2. By withholding just wages from persons who have 

labored for us. 

Deut. xxiv. 14. Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant that is 
poor and needy, whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy strangers 
that are in thy land within thy gates. 

James v. 4. Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped 
down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth : and the 
cries of them which have 1 eaped are entered into the ears of the Lord 
of sabaoth. 

705. How is this commandment violated secretly f 

The seventh commandment is violated secretly 

1. By taking our neighbors goods or money without 
his knowledge or consent. 

2. By permitting the property of our neighbor to be 
ruined or lost, when it is in our power to prevent such ruin 
or loss. 

3. By taking wages for work which we have poorly 

or improperly performed. 

Titus, ii. 9. Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own mas- 
ters, and to please them well in all things ; not answering again. 

Titus, ii. 10. Not purloining, but shewing all good fidelity ; that 
they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things. 

4. By deceit or the mere appearance of right. 

Prov.' xi. I. A false balance is abomination to the Lord : but a 
just weight is his delight. 

5. By gambling, whereby we gain our neighbor's 
money without giving him an equivalent for it. 

6. By usury or exorbitant interest, whereby we take 
advantage of our neighbor's trouble or perplexity. 

7. By begging when we are not in want, or can sup- 
ply our wants ourselves. 2 Kings v. 19-27. 

8. By borrowing without intention to return money 
or goods borrowed. 

9. By false measure, or weight, in buying or selling. 



68 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM 

10. By selling adulterated, or inferior goods at the 
prices of genuine articles. 

11. Misrepresentation in trading, selling or buying, 
by which means the seller charges more, or the buyer pays 
less than the articles are worth. 

12. By neglecting or refusing to pay the contributions 
which we promise for the support of the gospel at home 
and abroad. 

13. By neglecting or refusing to pay our subscrip- 
tions to our family or Sunday-school papers. 

106. Is it possible for a man to steal from himself? 

A man may steal from himself 

1. By stinginess, not allowing himself what is neces- 
sary for his own health and comfort. 

2. By prodigality, wasting his estate for unnecessary 
or injurious things. 

3. By idleness, spending the time in pleasure and van- 
ity, which has been given him to work for the glory of 
God and the salvation of his soul. 

loy. What is required in this commandm^ent ?- 

In general, the seventh commandment requires 

1. That we leave our neighbor in the peaceable pos- 
session of his own, and 

2. That we help him to preserve and improve his 
property. 

108. What does this commandment more especially 
require ? 

The seventh commandment requires more especially 
I. That heads of families should properly provide for 
their household. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 69 

2. That we should labor in body or mind and avoid 
idleness. 

2 Thess. iii. 7. For yourselves know how ye ought to follow us : 
for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you. 

2 Thess. iii. 8. Neither did we eat any man's bread for nought ; 
but wrought with labor and travail night and day, that we might not 
be chargeable to any of you. 

2 Thess. iii. 10. For even when we were with you, this we com- 
manded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. 

3. That we should faithfully render the service which 
we have agreed to perform, and for which we demand 
compensation. 

4. That we should be content with what God has be- 
stowed upon us. 

I Tim. vi. 6. But godliness with contentment is great gain. 

Luke iii. 13. And he said unto them, Exact no more than that 
which is appointed you. 

Luke iii. 14. And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, say- 
ing, And what shall we do ? And he said unto them, Do violence to 
no man, neither accuse any falsely ; and be content with your wages. 

log. How many kinds of thieves me there? 

1. The highway thief, or robber; 

2. The house-thief, who steals his employer's money 
or goods ; 

3. The lawyer that under pretence of law robs his client 
of his property ; 

4. The shop-thief, who uses false weights and meas- 
ures, or puts excessive prices on his commodities ; 

5. The usurer, who, taking advantage of others' ne- 
cessities, extorts excessive interest ; 

6. The trustee, who appropriates the property com- 
mitted to him to his own use ; 

7. The borrower, who never intends to pay ; 

8. The receiver of goods which he knows were stolen ; 

9. The receiver of pay for work which he has not 
performed. 



70 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

Note I. No one can afford to be dishonest. It never 
pays in the end. 2. Be careful of the beginnings of dis- 
honesty — the smallest taint. 3. Restore what you have 
gained dishonestly. There is no true repentance of this sin 
without restitution, where it is possible. 4. A pure con- 
science is worth more than all the world. A man was once 
asked why he was so very particular to give good measure 
— overgood — -and he replied, " God has given me but one 
journey through this world ; and, when I am gone, I can- 
not return to correct mistakes. 

no. What are the motives for the observance of this 
commandment ? 

The motives for the observance of the seventh com- 
mandment are, 

1. The divine curse resting upon theft, robbery and 

all kinds of dishonesty. 

I Cor. vi. 10. Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor re- 
vilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 

2. The blessedness of dealing honestly. s 

Psalm cxxviii. i. Blessed is every one that feareth the lyord ; 
that walketh in his ways. 

Psalm cxxviii. 2. For thou shalt eat the labor of thine hands : 
happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee. 

Acts XX. 34. Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have 
ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me. 

3. The ability to assist others. 

lyevit. xix. 9. And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou 
shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou 
gather the gleanings of thy harvest. 

Levit. xix. 10. And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither 
shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard ; thou shalt leave them 
for the poor and stranger : I am the lyord your God. 

4. The possession of a good conscience. 

Bph. iv. 28. Let him that stole steal no more : but rather let 
him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he 
may have to give to him that needeth. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 7 1 

ANECDOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Scriptural Examples. Achan, Jos. vii. 19-26; Ziha, 2 Saml. xvi. 
I, etc ; Ahab, i Kings xxi ; Judas Iscariot, John xii. 6 ; Ananias and 
Sapphira, Acts v. 1-3 ; Laban, Gen. xxxi. 41 ; Jacob, Gen. xxvii ; Ixii. 
12; Gehazi, 2 Kings v. 20 ; Zacchaeus, Luke xix. 8-10; Abraham, 
Gen. xiv. 14 ; Boaz, Ruth ii ; Job, xxix. 16. 

Examples of Industry. Jesus, John iv. 34 ; Matt. viii. 2 ; Peter, 
Luke V. i-ii ; Paul, Actsxviii. r-4. ; xx. 23, 24 ; Of economy : Joseph, 
Gen. Ixi ; Ruth i-iv ; Jesus, John vi. 12 ; Contentment : John the Bap- 
tist, Matt. iii. 4 ; Jesus, Matt. iv. i-ii ; Paul, Phil iv. [I-13 ; Of dis- 
content : The Israelites, Numb. xi. 4-6 ; Of avarice : Samuel's sons, 
I Sam. viii. 3 ; Felix, Acts xxiv. 26. 

The right of property is founded upon nature. "By the law of 
nature," said Chancellor Kent, "I understand those fit and just rules 
of conduct which the Creator has prescribed to man as a dependent 
and social being, and which are to be ascertained from the deduction 
of right reason, though they may be more precisely known and are 
more explicitly declared by revelation." 

I. Lawful means of procuring wealth and property for our- 
selves. 

1. Every one should have a lawful calling. Industry was re- 
quired of man in paradise. 

2. Earnest industry is required to provide what is necessary and 
suitable to our condition in life. 

3. This includes the moderate use of worldly things. Industry 
is the parent of thrift, aids health and happiness. God has stored the 
earth with an endless variety of means to meet our need. He has 
made these accessible to industry. "The hand of the dilligent mak- 
eth rich." Industry gives character and creel it to men. 

II. Lawful means of advancing the wealth and property of oth- 
ers. Tne law of God is never selfish, but philanthropic, 

1. Every one should receive his due from us. Natural con- 
science dictates this, and God's word enjoins it Honesty advances 
both ourselves and others. " Honesty is the best policy." 

2. We should do to others as we would that they should do to 
us. Men are a mutual provident society, in which one helps another. 

3. Charity towards the needy fulfills this law. It blesses the 
poor, and does not impoverish the giver. The Christian religion 
especially commands this. — Steel. 



72 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

I. This forbids what hinders our own wealth or estate. 

1. Idleness : Matt. xx. 6 ; Acts xx. 35 ; Kph. iv. 3 ; i Thess. iv. 
II ; 2 Thess. iii. 10-12. 

2. Prodigality: Luke xv. 11-32; John vi. 12. 

3. Sinful pursuits, as the Ephesians in Acts xix. 19. Gambling, 
smuggling, and all unlawful trades are condemned. 

II. It forbids what hinders our neighbor's wealth or outward 
estate. 

1. Theft. 

2. Fraud. 

3. Neglecting to pay debts. 

4. Refusing to exercise charity. 

There is a great tendency to break this commandment in all 
these ways. Besides direct stealing, there are false pretences in busi- 
ness, adulteration of goods, taking advantage of people's ignorance, 
misuse of public money or trust funds. Whatever is unfair is dishon- 
est. — Steel. 

1.ESSONS. 

1. He that provides not for his own house is worse than an infi- 
del. 

2. It is better to give than to receive. 

3. Keep hands off what belongs to others. 

4. Withhold not what you can do for the good of others. — Steel. 

A nobleman travelling iij Scotland was asked for alms in the 
High Street of Edinburgh by a little ragged boy. He said he had no 
change ; but the boy offered to procure it. His lordship then gave 
him a piece of silver, which the boy thought was to be first changed, 
and immediately ran away to get it. On his return he did not see 
his benefactor ; but he watched for him for days. At length meeting 
him he gave him the change The nobleman was so pleased with the 
lad's honesty that he became his friend, placed him at school, and 
promised to aid in his advancement. 

A clergyman in England, who had only forty pounds a year, and 
was often in distress for means to provide for his family, found a 
purse oa the road one day. Carrying it home, his wife advised him 
to use it; but he answered, " Honesty is the best policy." After 
some inquiry he ascertained that the money belonged to a gentleman 
in the neighborhood, to whom he returned it. He received thanks; 
but no other reward ; whereupon his wife complained of the ingrati- 
tude of the gentleman. Her husband said again, " Honesty is the 
be>t policy." A few mouths afterwards the clergyman was asked 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 73 

to dine with the gentleman, and was offered a living worth ^300 a 
year, along with a purse of ^50 to aid his present need. When he 
went home he said to his wife that he hoped she would now be con- 
vinced that " Honesty is the best policy." 

The Rev. Samuel Kilpin once minister in Exeter, said, "When 
seven years old, I was left in charge of' my father's shop. A man 
passed, crying, * Little lambs, all white and clean, at one penny each.' 
In my eagerness to get one, I lost all self command, and taking a 
penny from the drawer I made the purchase. My keen-eyed mother 
wondered how I came by the money. I evaded the question by 
something like a lie. In God's sight it was a lie, as I kept back the 
truth. The lamb was placed on the chimney- shelf, and was much 
admired. To me it was a source of inexpressible anguish : continu- 
ually there sounded in my ears and heart these words, ' Thou shalt 
not steal ; thou shalt not lie.' Guilt and darkness overcame my soul, 
and in sore agony I went to a hay- loft — the place is now perfectly in 
my recollection — and there prayed and pleaded, with groanings that 
could not be uttered, for mercy and pardon. I entreated for Jesus' 
sake. With joy and transport I left the loft, from a believing appli- 
cation of the text, ' Thy sins, which are many, are forgiven.' I went 
to my mother, told her what I had done, and sought her forgiveness, 
and burned the lamb, while she wept over her young penitent." If 
such was Kilpin' s misery and remorse in stealing a penny, then in 
justice he who steals a pound should have far more ; but some steal 
tens and even hundreds of pounds. What must be the remorse of 
these when called to see their sin, or to meet with God ? 

Mr. Nott, the missionary at Tahiti, once preached from the text, 
*' Let him that stole steal no more." The next morning many of the 
natives were seated before his dwelling. They said they could not 
sleep all night, thinking of all they had stolen from him and others. 
One showed an axe, another a chisel, another a knife, etc. They 
would not keep them any longer in their possession. Would it not be 
well that all acted like this ? 

Dr. Lawson of Selkirk, when preaching on this commandment, 
advocated restitution. Next morning the price of a pair of shoes 
was placed at the window of a family who had lost a pair recently. 

A gentleman in Surry, some years ago, held a farm worth 200/. a 
year in his own hands, till he was obliged to sell half of it to pay his » 
debts, and let the other half to a farmer, on a lease of 21 years. 
After a while, the farmer wanted to buy the land. " How is this," 



74 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

said the gentleman, " that I could not live upon the farm, being my 
own, -while you have paid rent, and yet are able to purchase it?" 
* ' O, " said the farmer, two words make all the difference : you said 
go^ and I say come ; you lay in bed, or took your pleasure, and sent 
others about your business ; and I rise be-times, and see my business 
done myself." 

One of the catechists of a Sabbath school going to visit a boy who 
had been absent, heard the following story related by his mother ; 
** O mother ! " exclaimed the boy as he entered the house one day, 
*' something has killed all my rabbits." Without giving his mother 
time to reply, he continued, " It is a judgment of God come upon 
me for stealing meat for them; but," said he, '*I am glad that I 
have none left, for they would have been temptation to make me steal 
again." 

Mr. Samuel Fairclough, at thirteen years of age, hearing his 
godfather, Mr. Samuel Ward, preaching on restitution, from the in- 
stance of Zacchfeus, and often repeating, that the sin was not for- 
given unless what was taken was restored, was so touched with re- 
morse for the robbing of an orchard, that, after a restless night, he 
went to a companion of his, who was guilty of the same crime, and 
told him that he was going to Mr . Jude, the owner, to carry him 
twelve pence for his three-penny worth of pears, of which he had 
wronged him. His companion, fearing whipping from his master, 
answered. Thou talkest like a fool, Sam, for God will forgive us ten 
times sooner than old Jude will forgive us once. But Sam, being of 
another mind, went to Jude's house, confessed the injury, and offered 
the money. Jude pardoned him ; but would take no money. This 
grieved him more ; upon which he made application to his spiritual 
father, Mr. Ward, and opeued to him the whole state of his mind, 
who received and treated him with great kindness and attention. 

Mr. Boston states in his memoirs, that having been employed, 
when a young man, for some time, by a notary, his employer failed 
to pay him for his services. Seeing a neglected book lying in the 
notary's chamber, he secretly took it away, thinking he might law- 
fully use this method of paying himself; but on farther reflection, he 
viewed his conduct as sinful, and inconsistent with strict justice. 
Impressed with this conviction, he replaced the book with the same 
secresy in which he had taken it away. An amiable instance of that 
tenderness of conscience for which the venerable man was remark- 
able. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 75 

A wealthy merchant entrusted a large sum of money with a poor 
mechanic, whom he sometimes visited. He gave him the money 
without witnesses or writings, because he intended to visit a friend in 
a neighboring village for a few days. Before the merchant reached 
the house of his friend, he had the misfortune of being thrown from 
his horse and was fatally injured. As soon as the mechanic heard of 
it, he notified the relatives of the deceased, and gave them an account 
of the money that had been entrusted to his keeping, and which he 
also soon after remitted to them. One of his own relatives said to 
him, "You are a simpleton ; why did you not keep the money? Who 
would have known anything about it? " " God would have known 
it," said the mechanic, "who knows all things, and I know it, too, 
and would never be able to forget it." 

Some years ago the London Missionary Society held its anniver- 
sary ; the collection amounted to 800 pound sterling, (about ^4,000,) 
While the assembly were singing a hymn of praise to God, a thief 
entered, and — who would think it possible — stole a bag containing 
part of the collected money. 

A young man, who had been known as notorious for his wicked- 
ness, came io Missionary Moffat in South Af«ica, and brought him 60 
shillings, ($20.) for the mission. "What induces you to give this 
money to the mission ? " said Moffat, " as you are known to be an en- 
emy to the mission ? " With tears in his eyes the young man con- 
fessed, that he had stolen t>pe out of the mission printing office, cast 
them into bullets ar>d shot a man with one of them. " But now," 
said he, "I come, like Zacchseus, to restore the theft four fold." 

John Ernst Luther, a nephew of Dr. Martin Luther, was accus- 
tomed to give alms to every one that asked him, and said to each one, 
" I give it to you out of a sincere heart ; if you take it for a sinful 
purpose, God will find you out." 

A converted Indian asked a white man for some tobacco. The 
man reached into his pocket and give him a whole handful of tobacco. 
The next morning the Indian returned and brought him a quarter 
dollar, which he had found in the tobacco. 

The Roman Emperor Titus counted the days of his reign by the 
acts of benevolence he had performed. On one occasion at an even- 
ing banquet, he remembered that on the past day he had not shown 
any person a kindness, and exclaimed, "My friends, I have lost this 
day." 



76 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

A poor student came to Dr. Luther and asked him for assistance. 
Luther told his wife to give him something. But when she excused 
herself, saying, she ha^ no money, Luther took a silver cup, squeezed 
it together and gave it to the student, telling him to sell it and keep 
the money. 

Many years ago there was a great famine in England. In order 
to help the poor, Kthelnod, bishop of Winchester, sold the gold and 
silver vessels of the church, saying. It is not right that the dead tem- 
ples of God should be rich, while the living themples of the Holy 
Ghost — the pious poor — should perish of hunger. 

The sainted Prelate Hochstetter of Bebenhausen, Wurttemberg, 
gave the tenth of all his interests and salary to benevolent purposes, 
according to the words of St. Augustine, " If the Pharisees and Scribes 
gave the tenth, should we not be ashamed to give nothing ? " 

Dr. Jonas once gave alms to a poor man, and remarked, ** Who 
knows but what God will return it, " but Luther remarked, "As if 
God had not long ago given it in advance ! " 

Youth is the seed-time, old age the harvest. If we lay nothing 
up for old age it will be as related in the fable ; namely, A cricket 
came to the ant, and said, " Give me something to eat." The ant 
asked, " What did you do in the summer ? " "I whistled," said the 
cricket. "Then," said the ant, "if you whistled in summer while I 
was working, you may dance in the winter," and gave her nothing. 

A very rich merchant was asked by his king, how much money 
he bad. The merchant replied, the sum would not amount to much 
more than looo florins. When the king said, he thought the mer- 
chant wat- jesting, he replied, " I have, for God's sake, devoted looo 
florins to the poor, and ihese alone I consider mine own. All my 
other possessions are subject to the will of the king, the hands of 
thieves, the uncertainties of fortune, none of these can I regard as 
positively my own." 

It is related of one of the kings of France, that he asked a ser- 
vant how much he earned every year. " As much as the king," was 
the reply. When he was further asked, how much the king earned, 
he replied, "Food and raiment ; more he can not use, and that I 
have, and earn it also." i Tim. \i. 8. 

Dr. Luther was very contented- with his condition. Duke John 
made him a present of a new mantel. Luther wrote him that he was 
doing too much for him, for if everything was given him in this world, 
what could he hope for in the next. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 7/ 

John Paul of Siena, was always very liberal to the poor. On his 
deathbed he exclaimed, ** What I have kept, that have I lost, and 
what I have given away, that I have yet, what I have refused I now 
regret." 

Another is reported to have said, " I have lost everything except 
what I have given away. ' ' 

A lady of the nobility once said to Dr. Bengel, **I understand, 
Dr. Bengel, that you are a prophet ; will you please to tell me, will 
there be special seats reserved in heaven for persons belonging to the 
nobility ? " " Certainly," replied Bengel, *' there are special seats re- 
served for them, but I regret to say, that according to Matt. xix. 24 
and I Cor. i. 26, you will find them very dusty. ' ' 

THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT. 

111. What is the Eighth Commandment ? 

Thou shalt not bear false witness against tliy neigh- 
bor." Matt. XV. 19; John viii. 44; Prov. xix. 5 ; John i. 
19, 20; Zech. viii. 16, 17. 

112. What is taught in this Com^nandm^ent? 

That we should so fear and love God, as not to belie, 
betray, slander, or raise injurious reports against our neigh- 
bor, but apologize for him, speak well of him, and put the 
most charitable construction on all his actions. 

Z7J. How does this commandm.ent differ from the three 
preceding ones ? 

The Eighth Commandment differs from the Fifth, 
Sixth and Seventh, in that they refer to injuries done by 
actions, but the Eighth refers to wrong done by words. 

114.. What is it to belie our neighbor? 

To belie our neighbor is, designedly to say that of him 
which is untrue and injurious. 

775. What is it to betray our neighbor? 

We betray our neighbor, when we publish something 
for the purpose of injuring him. Example, Doeg in i Sam. 
xxi, xxii ; or reveal something which he has told us in con- 
fidence. 



78 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

ii6. What is it to slander our neighbor ? 
We slander our neighbor, when we speak evil of him 
behind his back, which we would not do before his face. 
iiy. In what ways can this be done ? 
We slander our neighbor, 

1. When we repeat what some one has said about 
him, which is untrue and injurious to him; 

2. When we make known the evil he has done, but 
which as yet is known to few persons, and is of no advan- 
tage to society to be known ; 

3. When we depreciate the merits or character and 
good qualities of our neighbor. 

118. What is required hi this commandment ? 
In the Eighth Commandment there are three duties 
toward our neighbors obligatory upon us ; these are ' 

1. That we apologize for him; that is, defend him 
against accusation, or mention ameliorating circumstances. 
Example, Nicodemus, John vii. 50. 

John vii. 50, Nicodemus saith unto fhem, (he that came to Jesus 
by night, being one of them.) 

John vii. 51. Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, 
and know what he doeth ? 

2. When we cannot do this, then speak well of him; 
that is, present the commendable qualities of our neighbor. 
Example, Paul in his letter to Onesimus. 

3. But if we cannot even do this, then put the most 
charitable construction on his actions. That is, construe 
his motives for good so long as we are not convinced to the 
contrary. 

j/p. Under what circumstances is this commandment 
peculiarly binding upon us f 

The Eighth Commandment is peculiarly binding 
upon us 

I. In courts of justice, where very much depends 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 79 

upon faithful witness-bearing. The law requires that we 
" speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the 
truth," as in the very sight of God, and as answerable to 
him. ' 

2. In public controversy. When words are weighed 
they should not give a doubtful meaning or a wrong im- 
pression. 

3. In private life. Society is kept together by truth. 
720. How may we violate this commandment in rela- 
tion to ourselves? 

We may violate the Eighth Commandment in relation 
to ourselves 

1. By meanness, in which we think less worthily of 
ourselves than we ought to think, and betray a want of 
self-respect ; 

2. By self-conceit, in which we think more highly of 
ourselves than we ought to think, which leads to boasting 
of ourselves; 

3. By prevarication, in which the truth is contorted, 
or partly concealed, by means of which a false impression 
is sought to be made ; 

4. By exaggeration, wherein things are represented 
as greater than truth and justice will warrant. 

121. What are the motives for the observance of this 
commandment ? 

The motives for the observance of this commandment 
are, 

1. That lying is disgraceful and injurious. 

Ps. V. 6. Thou shall destroy them that speak leasing : The LORD 
will abhor the bloody and deceitful man. 

2. He who violates this commandment will not be 
believed, even when he speaks the truth ; on the contrary 
by the observance of truth and uprightness we become like 
unto Christ. 



80 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM 

Bph. iv. 21. If so be that ye have heard him, and have been 
taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus. 

Ps. XV. I. Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who 
shall dwell in thy holy hill ? 

Ps. XV. 2. He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteous- 
ness, and speaketh the truth in his heart. 

Ps. XV. 3. He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth 
evil to his neighbor, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbor. 

Ps. XV. 4. In whose eyes a vile person is contemned ; but he 
honoreth them that fear the Lord. He that sweareth to his own hurt 
and changeth not. 

Ps. XV. 5. He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh 
reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never 
be moved. 

3. Truthfulness makes us more like God ; falsehood 

makes us more like the devil. 

John viii. 44. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of 
your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and 
abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he 
speaketh a lie he speaketh of his own : for he is a liar, and the father 
of it. 

ANECDOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Scriptural Examples. Lying : the serpent, Gen. iii. i, 4 ; John 
viii. 44 ; False witnesses against Naboth, i Kings xxi. 1-13 ; Against 
Jesus, Matt. xxvi. 60 ; Against Stephen, Acts vi. 13 ; Against Paul, 
Acts xxiv ; Apologizing : Jonathan, i Sam. xix 4, 5 ; Abimelech, i 
Sam. xxii. 14 ; Faithful reproof : Nathan, 2 Sam. xii. 7 ; John Bap- 
tist, Mark vi. 18. 

Speaking evil of others. Bli, i Sam. i. 13, 14 ; Sons of Belial, i 
Sam. X. 27 ; Bliab, i Sam. xvii. 28, 29 ; Michal, 2 Sara. vi. 16, 20 ; 
Job's wife, Job ii. 9 ; the Scribes, Matt. ix. 3, 4 ; John ix. 24 ; Judas, 
John xii. 4> 5- 

I. To maintain and promote truth between man and man. We 
are required to speak, not as we think or wish, but as things really 
are. We are to be true ourselves. Joseph's brethren said, " We are 
true men : " Gen. xlii. 11. The Gibeonites were false: Josh. ix. 
We are al-ways to speak the truth to others : Bph. iv. 25. 

II. To maintain aud promote our own and our neighbor's good 
name. A good name is our character or reputation. It is the most 
valuable possession, and most carefully to be kept. Whatever dam- 
ages our character is dangerous. We should therefore be consistent 
with the truth. No evil report should be spread regarding our neigh- 
bor. We should speak for him if we can. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 8 1 

III. To maintain and promote truth in witness-bearing. This is 
frequently required — 

1. In courts of justice, where very much depends on faithful 
witness bearing. The law requires that we "speak the truth, the 
whole truth, and nothing but the truth," as in the very sight of God, 
and as answerable to him. 

2. In public controversy. When words are weighed they should 
not give a double meaning or a wrong impression. 

3. In private life. Society is kept together by truth. — Steel. 

I. This commandment forbiddeth whatsoever is prejudicial to 
truth This includes dissembling, hypocrisy, lying, breaking prom- 
ises. It also affects wntnesses, lawyers, and judges in courts, where 
so much depends upon truth. Ananias and Sapphira are great bea- 
cons. 

II. Whatsoever injures our own good name. Boasting about 
ourselves ; prevaricating truth respecting ourselves ; frequenting sus- 
picious company or places ; thinking too highly of ourselves. 

II [. Whatsoever injures our neighbor's good name. 

1. Unfounded suspicions. 

2. Spreading false reports or insinuations against character ; 
imputing unworthy motives. 

3. Betraying secrets and bearing tales. 

IV. Whatsoever tends to ini'ure truth or reputation — as flattery, 
detraction, pride, foolish talk or conduct. — Steel. 

I^BSSONS. 

1. Young people should be very careful in speaking the truth 
always. •*• 

2. All are required to walk in the truth. 

3. A liar cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. 
4 The tongue requires a bridle. 

5. Let us have great respect for a good reputation. — Steel. 

Christ said, " I am the truth : " John xiv. 6. "To this end was 
I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear 
witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my 
voice : " John xviii. 37. 

" Sacred was Lactantius, who denied the Earth's rotundity; sa- 
cred was Augustine, who admitted the Earth to be round but denied 
the antipodes ; sacred is the learning of our moderns, who admit 
the smallness of the Earth but deny its motion ; but to me more sa- 
cred than all is truth." — Kepler. 



82 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

" Above all, to thine own self be true ; 
Thou canst not then be false to any man." — Shakespeare. 

When Petrarch resided in the house of Cardinal Colonna, a dis- 
pute arose among some members of the household. The Cardinal 
made each one swear on the Gospels that he would declare the whole 
truth. Even his own brother, the Bishop of Luna, was not excused. 
But when the poet came, the Cardinal laid aside the book and said, 
As to you, Petrarch, your word is sufficient." 

The Rev. Robert Fleming once said to an intimate friend in Lon- 
don, "I bless God that in fifteen years' time I have not given any 
man's credit a thrust behind his back. When I have had grounds to 
speak well of any man, I have done so with faithfulness ; but when I 
have wanted a subject that way I have kept silence." 

When George Washington was a boy, a beautiful cherry tree was 
killed in his father's garden, by some violent hand stripping its bark. 
Mr. Washington said he would not have taken five guineas for the 
tree, and he would like to know the offender. Shortly after, seeing 
George with an axe in his hand, he asked him if he knew who had 
killed the cherry tree. George hesitated for a moment, then said, 
*' I cannot tell a lie, father, I cannot tell a lie. I cut it with the 
hatchet." " Come to my arms ! " said his father ; "you have paid 
for it a thousand times. ' ' Such an act of heroism in telling the truth 
he valued more than a thousand cherry trees. 

Dr. Samuel Johnson once said, " Above all, accustom your child- 
ren constantly to tell the truth, without varying in any circum 
stance." A lady who heard him said, " Nay, this is too much, for a 
little variation in narrative must happen a thousand times a day, if 
one is not perpetually watching," *' Well, madam," said the doctor, 
** you ought to be perpetually watching." 

*' From the Bible first engrave on your heart, then translate into 
your lives, and last emblason aloft on the pediment of your trade 
temple, this short and simple legend : 'A poor man is better than a 
liar.' " — Arnot. 

An Indian came to a christian to hear the word of God. The 
christian read to him from Proverbs, * ' He that bridleth his tongue 
is wise." The Indian said, this was enough for one lecture ; but he 
did not come again. The christian met him a month later and asked 
him the reason. " I have not yet learned my first lecture," replied 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 83 

the Indian. After six month he met him again, and received the 
same answer to his inquiry. Six years passed away and the Indian 
died. The christian visited him on his deathbed, but he declared 
he had not yet learned his first lesson, and did not wish to hear a sec- 
ond one. 

The Duke of Bourgoyn, nephew of Louis XV. was even in his 
childhood an enemy of flattery. When asked, which of the servants 
he loved most, he replied, natting certain ones, *' Because," said he, 
*' they don't spare me, but tell me openly, when I do wrong, in order 
that I may do better." 

George II., king of Great Brittain, on a visit to his German lands, 
asked the president of the court of appeals of Celle, at a banquet, 
" Why is it, Mr. President, that I lose nearly all my suits at the court 
of appeals ? " The president replied, " Because your majesty is usu- 
ally in the wrong." 

The Roman Emperor Julian, apostatised from the Christian re- 
ligion and thought he had entirely suppressed Christianity in his 
empire. Lebaniu?, who had assisted in the suppression of Christ- 
ianity, met the pious Athanasius on the street in Rome, and said to 
him, "What is the Son of the carpenter doing now?" "He is 
making a coffin for your emperor, ' ' replied Athanasius, and in a few 
days later the report came, that Julian had been killed in a battle 
with the Parthian s. 

An ungodly sailor once said to a negro who belonged to a mis- 
sionary's church, "We don't think much of the missionaries." The 
negro replied, " You say, you don't like the missionarit s, will you 
give me one good reason why you don't like the missionaries, maybe 
I can give you a good answer. ' ' Such a challenge the sailor had not 
expected and remained silent. 

St. Augustine said, "Two things I must have in this world; 
namely, a good conscience and a good name." 

The Emperor Albright used to say, " Three kinds of people I es- 
teem above all others ; namely, pious ministers, courageous men, 
and chaste women." But three kinds of persons he detested ; namely, 
liars, false tongues and slanderers. 

The world loves the treason, but dispises the traitor. The high 
priests rejoiced when Judas promised to betray Jesus into their hands, 
but when afterwards he came to them in despair to find comfort, 
they said, ' ' See thou to it. " 



84 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

He who takes a flatterer for his friend will be disappointed when 
he needs a friend. The flatterers are like the swallows, they remain 
as long as the weather is fair, but fly away when the cold winds come. 
They are like the flies that remain only so long as they find anything 
to devour ; they are like the leech, which drops off" as soon as it has 
sucked itself full of blood. 

He who robs his neighbor of his good name, makes him poor, 
indeed, but does not enrich himself. 

The question was asked, " Why we can see other peoples' failings 
sooner than our own ? and why we can give advice to others easier 
than follow it ourselves ? A sensible man asked in reply, ' * Why 
can our eyes see everything else but themselves ? " 

Old Ksop gave an answer to the same question. He said, "A 
man carries a bag on his shoulder ; in the forepart of the bag, which 
is always before his eyes, are contained the failings of his fellow men ; 
in the hinder part of the bag, which hangs upon his back, are con- 
tained his own failings. He himself does not see them, and it re- 
quires great humility and good will to believe what others tell us 
about them. 

Slander is like srtioke, which seems at first as if it would blacken 
even the heavens, but it is scattered by the first blast of wind, and it 
vanishes away in the air, so that nobody knows what has become of it. 

Luther says, ** The slanderer has the devil sitting on his tongue, 
and he who listens to the slander has the devil in his ear. There is 
little difference between the two. 

Alexander the Great used to turn only one ear to an accuser, but 
held the other ear closed, saying the latter he must reserve for the 
accused. 

When Ivuther stood before the Diet of Worms, and had almost 
fainted from so much speaking, Duke Erich of Brunswick, sent him 
a refreshing drink in a silver cup. Some of his friends were suspi- 
cious, fearing that the Duke might be an enemy, and intend to 
poison him. But Luther took the cup and drank, saying, ** As Duke 
Erich has now remembered me, so m,ay God remem,ber him in the 
hour of deathy And with joy the good Duke remembered these 
words of Luther on his death-bed. 

When Alexander lay very seriously ill he received a letter, in 
which he was warned to take no medicine from his physician, because 
he was bribed by Darius, King of Persia, with a large sum of money, 
to poison him. But Alexander trusted his physician ; with one hand 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 85 

he took the cup, and with the other hand he gave the letter to the 
physician^ and while the physician read the letter, Alexander con- 
fidingly drank the medicine. He then fell into a long sleep and re- 
covered from his sickness. 

Eberhard Von Weihe, Chancelor of Brunswick, was once in 
conversation with some Italians at Florence, and these boasted among 
other things, that the Germans were simpletons, and that it was an 
easy matter for them to cheat the Germans just as they pleased. 
Bberhard replied, " An art like that is possessed and practiced by the 
devil, too, but he will never be saved by such an art. ' ' 

One day there happened a tremendous storm of lightning and 
thunder, as Archbishop Leighton was going from Glasgow to Dun- 
blane. He was descried, when at a distance by two men of bad char- 
acter. They had not courage to rob him : but wishing to fall on some 
method of extorting money from him, one said, "I will lie down by 
the way-side as if I were dead, and you shall inform the archbishop, 
that I was killed by the lightning, and beg money of him to bury 
me." When the archbishop arrived at the spot, the wicked wretch 
told him the fabricated story. He sympathized with the survivor, 
gave him money, and proceeded on his journey. But when the man 
returned to his companion he found him really lifeless ! Immedi- 
ately he began to exclaim, *' Oh ! sir, he is dead ! Oh ! sir, he is 
dead ! " On this the archbishop discovered the fraud, left the man 
with Ihis important reflection, " It is a dangerous thing to trifle with 
the judgments of God." 

When any one was speaking ill of another in the presence of 
Peter the Great, he at first listened to him attentively, and then in- 
terrupted him. " Is there not," said he, "a fair side also to the char- 
acter of the person of whom you are speaking ? Come, tell me what 
good qualities you have remarked about him ? ' ' 

THE NINTH AND TENTH COMMANDMENTS. 

122. What is the Ninth Commandment ? 
" Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house." 
12^. What is meant by this commandment? 
, We should so fear and love God as not to desire by- 
craftiness to gain possession of our neighbor's inheritance 
or home, or to obtain it under the pretext of a legal right, 
but be ready to assist and serve him in the preservation of 
his own. 



86 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

12^. What is forbidden in this commandment? 

In the Ninth Commandment are forbidden all actual 
evil desires which run counter to the law of God; especially 
those which are cherished with pleasure in the heart, and 
when opportunity is sought for their indulgence. 

Micah ii. i. Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil 
upon their beds ! when the morning is light, they practise it, because 
it is in the power of their hand. 

12^. On what subjects are these evil desires directed? 

The evil desires are directed 

1. Upon riches, as for example, the desire to obtain 
unlawfully our neighbor's house or property, 

Micah ii. 2. And they covet fields, and take them by violence ; 
and houses, and take them away : so they oppress a man and his 
house, even a man and his heritage. 

I Kings xxi. i. And it came to pass after these thing, that 
Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, hard by 
the palace of Ahab, king of Samaria. 

I Kings xxi. 2. And Ahab spake unto Naboth saying, Give me 
thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, becanse it is 
near unto my house : and I will give thee for it a better vineyard 
than it ; or^ if it seem good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in 
money. 

2. Honor or worldly fame. 

Esther v. 12. Haman said moreover. Yea, Esther the queen did 
let no man come in with the king unto the banquet that she had 
prepared but myself; and to morrow am I invited unto her also with 
the king. 

Esther v. 13. Yet all this availeth me nothing, so long as I see 
Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate. 

3. Luxury. 

Luke xvi. 19. There was a certain rich man, which was clothed 
in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day. 

126. What is required in this commandmeitt ? 

The Ninth Commandment requires that we should 
have a desire for those things only which are good and 
pleasing to God. 

12 J. What are those desires which are good and pleas- 
ing to God. 

The desires which are good and pleasing to God are 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 8/ 

1. A desire for the glory of God and a closer com- 
munion with him. 

Ps. Ixxiii. 24. Thou shall guide me with thy counsel, and after- 
ward receive me to glory. 

Matt. vi. 21. For where your treasure is, there will your heart 
be also. 

2. A desire to do and be what God has commanded, 
that is to have and to practice the christian virtues. 

Ps. xix. 9. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: 
the judgments of the Lord a^-e true and righteous altogether. 

Phil. iv. 8. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, what- 
soever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever 
things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are 
of good report ; if there be any virtue, and if the7^e be any praise, 
think on these things, 

Phil. iv. 9. Those things, which ye have both learned, and re- 
ceived, and heard, and seen in me, do : and the God of peace shall 
be with you. 

128. Which are some of the chi'istian virtues ? 
The following are christian virtues : 

1. Contentment, which will also induce us to help our 
neighbor to preserve his own property. 

I Tim. vi. 6. But Godliness with contentment is great gain. 

2. Humility. 

James iv. 10. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and 
he shall lift you up, 

3. Chastity. 

I Peter ii. 11. Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and 
pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul. 

i2g. How should these virtues be cherished and pro- 
moted ? 

These virtues should be cherished and promoted, 

1. By contemplation of the word and goodness of 
God, 

Ps. ciii. 2. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his 
benefits. 

2. By temperance and watchfulness over our bodies 
and souls. 

I Peter v. 8. Be sober, be vigilant ; because your adversary the 
devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. 



88 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

3. By prayer and contemplation of the things that are 
to come, such as 

a. Death. 

b. Judgment. 

c. The damnation of the ungodly, and 

d. The salvation of believers. , 
I JO. What are the motives for the observance of this 

commandment? 

The motives for the observance of this commandment 
are 

The divine punishment threatened against • 

1. The avaricious. 

I Tim. vi. 9. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and 
a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in 
destruction and perdiiion. 

2. The Proud. 

Ps. cxix 21. Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed, 
which do err from thy commandments. 

3. The licentious. 

I Peter ii. 11. Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and 
pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul ; 

iji. What is the Tenth Commandment? 

" Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his 
man servant, nor his maid servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, 
nor anything that is thy neighbor's." James i. 14, 15 ; 
Matt. V. 28 ; 2 Pet. i. 4 ; John ii. 15 ; Matt. xv. 19 ; Eph. 
iv. 22-24. 

I J 2. What is required in this commandment? 

That we should so fear and love God, as 

1. Not even to wish to seduce our neighbor's wife, 

2. To corrupt or alienate from him his servants, 

3. Or to force away from him, or let loose his cattle, 

4. But rather use our endeavors, that they may con- 
tinue with him, and discharge their duty to him. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 89 

ijj. What is forbidden in this coviniandment ? 
In the Tenth Commandment are forbidden the first 
emotions of a natural disposition to evil, which is original 

sin. 

7j^. Wherein does original sin consist ? 

Original sin consists in 

1. A destitution of goodness, and 

2. A disposition to evil. 

Rom. vii. 7. What shall we say then ? Is the law sin ? God 
forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law : for I had not 
known lust, except the law had said, Thou shall not covet. 

7J5. What are the negative effects of original sin or 
natural depravity on the mind ? 
By original sin, or depravity, 

1. The understanding is destitute of the knowledge 
of that which is good. 

Rom. iii. 11. There is none that understandeth, there is none 
that seeketh after God. 

2. The will is destitute of love for that which is good, 
and 

I Cor. ii. 14. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the 
Spirit of God : for they are foolishness unto l»im : neither can he 
know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 

3. The memory is destitute of power to retain that 
which is good. 

ij6. How does original sin or natural depravity affect 
the mind positively ? 

Through original sin or natural depravity 

1. The understanding is disposed to entertain false 
views of God and divine things ; 

2. The will is disposed to gain an aversion, a loath- 
ing and a hatred to and of that which is good, and a love 
for that which is evil; 

Rom. vii. 21. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, 
evil is present with me. 

Rom. vii. 22. For I delight in the law of God after the inward 
man : 

Rom. vii. 23. But I see another law in my members, warring 



90 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

against the la^ of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the 
law of sin which is in my members. 

3. The memory easily retains the evil which after- 
wards is recalled to the soul with pleasure. In this way 
original sin, or natural depravity, inclines a man sinfully to 
covet his neighbor's wife, servant, or any property of his 
neighbor. 

7J7. JV/iat is required in this commandment ? 

The Tenth Commandment requires the proper consti- 
tution of the whole human nature, with all the faculties of 
his mind. 

Kph. iv. 24. And that ye put on the new man, which after God 
is created in righteousness and true holiness. 

ij8. Why does God require these qualities in man ? 

God requires these qualities in man, because he origi- 
nally endowed him with them, when he created him in his 
image and likeness. 

7jp. What moral qualities are necessary to restore the 
image and likeitess of God in the soul ? 

To restore the image of God is required the presence 
of that which is gf)od ; namely, positively: 

1. In the understanding a knowledge of God and his 
will ; 

2. In the will reverence for God and love to him, with 
a desire to please him ; 

3. In the memory the power to comprehend the truth 
of God and frequent delightful meditation upon it. 

Col. iii. 16. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all 
wisdom ; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and 
hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the 
Lord. 

i/j-O. What moral qualities are required negatively ? 

The negative qualities are, aversion to all that is evil ; 

namely, 

I. False views of God and divine things. 

Mai. iii. 15. And now we call the proud happy ; yea, they that 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 9 1 

work wickedness are set up ; yea, they that tempt God are even de- 
livered. 

Mai. iii. i6. Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to 
another : and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of re- 
membrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, 
and that thought upon his name. 

2. Abhorrence of all ungodliness, whereby we neither 

desire to know the bad, nor to retain it in our memory, and 

are reminded of it with aversion. 

I Tim. i. 13. Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, 
and injurious : but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in 
unbelief. 

Gal. V. 7. Ye did run well ; who did hinder you that ye should 
not obey the truth ? 

I/J.I. What are the motives for the observance of this 
commandment? 

The motives for the observance of the Tenth and all 
other commandments are contained in the remarkable 
threatenings and promises connected with them. 

i/j-Z. What saith the Lord God concerning all these 
commandments ? 

He saith : " I the Lord thy God, am a jealous God, 
visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the children to 
the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, and 
showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and 
keep my commandments." Nahum i. 2 ; 2 Pet. ii. 4, 6; 
Hos. vi. 5 ; Ps. ciii. 17, 18 ; Exod. xx. 5, 6. 

7^j. What do IV e learn from this declaration ? 

God threatens to punish all who transgress these com- 
mandments; we should, therefore, dread his displeasure, 
and not act contrary to his laws. But he also promises 
grace and every blessing to all such as obey these laws ; 
we should, therefore, love and confide in him, and cheer- 
fully do what he commanded us. 

7^^. What does the Lord God show in these words ? 
In these words the Lord God shows both his severity 
and his mercy. 



92 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

7^5. How does the Loi^d God show his severity f 
The Lord God shows his severity in these words in 
that as Lord, with divine authority, he 

1. Commands us as his servants. 

Mai. i. 6. A son honoreth his father, and a servant his master : 
if then I be a father, where is mine honor? and iil be & master, where 
is my fear ? saith the lyORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise 
my name. And ye say. Wherein have we despised thy name ? 

2. Manifests himself as God, to whom we are indebted 
for all we have and are. 

3. Who, as Almighty God, is able to punish the 
wicked. 

4. Who, also, as a jealous God, will punish the im- 
penitent transgressors of his law. 

5. Yea, he will also judge their wicked descendents, 
until the third and fourth generation. 

1^6. How does God show his mercy upon those who love 
him and keep his commandments ? 

The Lord God shows his mercy in that he promises 
his blessing to them and their children both temporal and 
spiritual, even to the thousandths' generation. 

Note i. From Adam up to our time the three hun- 
dredth generation does not yet live upon the earth. 

Note 2. The revealed will of the Lord our God is a 
law to us as his subjects, which binds us, either to perfect 
obedience or the penalty of its transgression. As long as 
neither of these is fulfilled we rest under the guilt, until the 
demands of our righteous God have been complied with, 
or his threatnings have been inflicted. This law is to us 
the school-master to drive us to Christ, who has both ful- 
filled the law and paid the penalty of our transgression. 

Gal. iii. 13. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, 
being made a curse for us : for it is written, Cursed is every one that 
hangeth on a tree. 

lyuke xxiv. 44. And he said unto them, These are the words 
which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 93 

must be fulfilled, whicli were written ia the law of Moses, and in the 
prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. 

Ivuke xxiv. 45. Then opened he their understanding, that they 
might understand the scriptures. 

Ivuke xxiv. 46. And said unto them. Thus it is written, and thus 
it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day. 

Luke xxiv. 47. And that repentance and remission of sins should 
be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 

ANECDOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Scriptural Examples. Covetoasness : Bve, Gen. iii. 6 ; Bsau, 
Gen. XXV ; Potiphar's wife. Gen. xxxix. 7 ; David, 2 Sam. xi. 2 ; 
Ahab and Jezebel, i Kings xxi ; Herod, Matt. xiv. 5 ; David, Ps. 
cxliii. 8 ; cxix. 40, 81, 174, ; Isaiah, xvi. 9 ; Dan. i. 8, 11 ; Sergius 
Paulus, Acts xiii. 7. 

Conclusion of the Commandments. Conviction of sin : Adam, 
Gen. iii. 10 ; Cain, Gen. iv. 14 ; Joseph's brethren. Gen. xliii. 18 ; 
Gen. 1. 15 ; Gen. xlii. 21 ; xliv. 16 ; David, 2 Sam. xii ; Ps. li ; Jonah, 
i. 7, 12 ; Herod, Matt. xiv. i, 2 ; Judas, Matt, xxvii. 3 ; Felix, 
Acts xxiv. 25. 

The Ante Diluvians, Gen. vi. 3, 5 ; Lot's wife. Gen. xix. 26 ; 
Luke, xvii. 32; Abijam, i Kings xv. 3; the Scribes, Matt. ix. 4; 
Ananias, Acts v. 3 ; Simon the sorcerer. Acts viii. 13 ; David, Ps. 
xxvi. 40 ; li. 12. 

God punishes sin. The serpent : Kve and Adam, Gen. iii. 14-19, 
the Ante Diluvians, Gen. vi, vii ; Sodom, Gen. xix ; Pharaoh, Exodus 
xiv ; Nebuchadnezzar, Dan. iv. 24 ; Belshazzar, Dan. v. 30 ; Jerusa- 
lem, Luke xix. 41-44 ; Herod, Acts xii. 23 ; Klymas, Acts xiii. 11 ; the 
prodigal son, Luke xv. 14-17 ; Dives, Luke xvi. 23-27. 

I. Personal contentment with our worldly position, our social 
advantages, and with God's dealings. St. Paul says that he had 
learned, in whatsoever state he was, therewith to be content. He 
knew all varieties of circumstances, but had this great happiness. In 
his case it arose from his relation to Christ : Phil. iv. 13. This does 
not forbid dilligence or lawful aspiration to better our circumstances. 
We should always realize dependence on God. 

II. Charity to our neighbor. 

1. This may be done by wishing him well in soul and body — as 
Boaz saluted his reapers, Ruth ii. 4 ; as the apostle, 3 John 3. 

2. By respecting what belongs to him : Deut. xxii. i. 

3. By assisting his advancement as we may be able. For this 
there are many opportunities. 



94 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

I. Discontent is forbidden. This includes murmuring at our 
worldly condition, as the Israelites did after they went out of Egypt ; 
Num. xiv. 2-35 ; i Cor. x. 10. It also includes complaining against 
God, as Cain, Jonah, Israel. 

II. Bnvying or grieving at*the good of our neighbor. This is a 
very unhappy state of mind. It grudges others what they possess, 
because it is more or other than we have. 

III. Covetous desires after what is our neighbor's — as, his house, 
his wife, his servants, his possessions, or any of his advantages. The 
command is very specific in its condemnation of covetousness. The 
apostle calls this " the root of all evil." It has led to meanness, de- 
ceit, fraud, theft, and murder, all for the sake of inordinate desires. 

I. Man since the fall is sinful in his nature. 

II. No mere man can in this life perfectly keep God's command- 
ments. The law requires a perfect obedience ; but man is a sinful 
being, and cannot render that. Christ, who rendered perfect obedi- 
ence, was not a mere man, 

III. Kvery mere man breaks the commandments of God. 

1. This is done in thought : Gen. vi. 5. The imagination is 
wayward and evil. 

2. In word. The tongue is an unruly evil : James iii. 8. Idle, 
thoughtless, hasty, and hurtful words are often used. Some use bad 
language, and some speak falsely. 

3. The Psalmist says that his iniquities are innumerable, and 
are more than the hairs of his head : Ps. xl. 12. 

IvESSONS. 

1. Contentment, with godliness, is great gain. It secures an in- 
terest in salvation and satisfaction with God's providence. 

2. Personal contentment promotes charity to our neighbor. 

3. Let us not set too high a value on worldly things : Col. iii. 2. 

4. Let us beware of three evils of desire — the lust of the flesh, 
the lust of the eye, and the pride of life : i John ii. 15, 16. 

5. These lusts are called deceitful, Eph, iv. 22 ; hurtful, i Tim. 
vi. 9; worldly, Titus ii. 12 ; warring against the soul, i Peter ii. 11 ; 
warring in our members, James iv. i. 

6. Let us pray, "Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not 
to covetousness : " Ps. cxix. 36. 

7. How corrupt and helpless is man before God. 

8. What great need there is of a Savior. 

9. The nature renewed by grace will be able to keep all God's 
commandments in the glorified state. -^5^^^/. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. QS 

The Bible is very particular regarding the sin and danger of the 
covetous man. " It says, — (i) that he cannot enter heaven, i Cor. vi. 
lo ; (2) that he is an idolater, Eph. v. 5 ; (3) that God abhors him, 
Ps. X. 3. 

This commandment has a special interest, as it was the means, 
as St. Paul tells us, of leading him to the knowledge of sin. " I had not 
known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet," (Rom. 
vii. 7.) Most of the other commandments forbid external acts, but 
this forbids a state of the heart. It shows that no external obedi- 
ence can fulfill the demands of the law ; that God looks upon the 
heart ; that he approves or disapproves of the secret affections and 
purposes of the soul ; that a man may be a Pharisee, pure outwardly 
as a whited sepulchre, but inwardly full of dead men's bones and of 
all uncleanness." — Dr. Hodge. 

In the greatest of the Greater Prophets we read of *' greedy dogs, 
which can never have,enough." Among the words of Agur, the son 
of Jakeh, we read of the horse-leech having two daughters, whose in- 
satiate, insatiable cry is, *' Give, give." 

The Emperor Frederick II. said to Pope Gregory IX., "But 
thou, having nothing, yet possessing all things, art ever seeking what 
thou may est devour and swallow up : the whole world connot glut 
the rapacity of thy maw, for the whole world sufficeth thee not." 

Seneca in his Morals says of a happy life, " What matters it how 
far Alexander extended his conquests, if he never got to feel satisfied 
with what he had? " Every man wants as much as he covets, and 
labor lost is to pour into a vessel which never will be full. 

It is said of a covetous man that if you were to make him a pres- 
ent of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland as a free gift, he would 
at once request to have the Isle of Man thrown in too, for a potato 
garden 

The covetous "eats all things and is hungry still. More, more ! 
the glutten cries for something new. So rages appetite." 

" Learn not to be greedy, and when you've enough. 
Don't be anxious your bags any tighter to stuff; 
Nor turn every thought to increasing your store. 
And look always like Oliver asking for more." 

Ingoldsby Legends. 



96 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

An Italian bishop struggled through great difficulties without 
repining, and through much opposition -without impatience. A 
friend who admired his virtues asked if he could give the secret of 
his contentment. ** Yes," said the old man; "it consists in noth- 
ing more than a right use of my eyes. In whatsoever state [ am, I 
first of all look up to heaven, and remember that my principle busi- 
ness here is to get there ; I then look down upon the earth, and call 
to mind how small a place I shall occupy in it when I am buried ; I 
then look abroad upon the world, and observe what multitudes there 
are who are in all respects more unhappy than myself. Thus I learn 
where true happiness is placed, where all our cares must end, and 
how very little reason I have to repine or complain." 

Plutarch tells us of Caius Marius, that at the age of seventy, 
distinguished by the unparalleled honor of seven cocsulships, and 
possessed of more than regal fortune, he died with the chagrin of an 
unfortunate wretch who had not obtained what he wanted. 

Herodotus says that Alcmseon, when he was told by Croesus that 
he might go into the treasury and take as much gold as he could 
carry on his person at one time, put on the largest tunic he could find 
and the roomiest buskins : then he first filled his boots with the gold 
dust, then stuffed his clothes with it, then powdered his hair with it, 
and lastly took a mouthful of it, and came out dragging his legs with 
difficulty, and looking scarcely like a human being ! Croesus was 
highly amused at his covetous spirit. 

"The conquests of covetousness are greater than those of 
Alexander. There are those who think that the chief end of man is 
to glorify gold, and to enjoy it for ever." — H. W. Beecher. 

Two weavers were once talking together of religious experience, 
and both complained of their trouble from vain and evil thoughts in 
the exercises of religion. Another weaver having heard them, said, 
'* I always thought you two vile hypocrites, but now I know it from 
your own confession. I never had such vain and evil thoughts in my 
life." One of the men then took a piece of money out of his pocket 
and said, "This shall be yours, if, after you come from the church 
the next time, you can say you had not one vain thought there." 
A few days afterwards he came and said, ' ' Keep your money, for I 
had not been five minutes in the church till I began to think how 
many looms could be set up in it ! " 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 9/ 

On the i8th of April, 1560, Melanchton lay on his deathbed. 
Dr. Peucer asked if he wished anything, and Melanchton replied, 
•'Nothing but heaven." 

Missioaaiy Richards preached to the heathen in India about the 
sinful nature of the natural man, the darkness of his soul, and the 
hardness of his heart. One of the people said to a pundit, (one of 
their learned men) "Well, have you no reply to all this? " He an- 
swered, " What can I say against the truth ? and how can a wax can- 
dle give light to the rays of the sun ? " Then he turned to the mis- 
sionary and said, " Sahib, thy words are truth." 

A young monk complained to one of his older brethren of the 
distress which the many evil thoughts occasioned him. He replied, 
" When the birds fly over your head you can not prevent them, but 
you can keep them from building nests on jour head. When evil 
thoughts come to you, do not harbor them ; let them fly away ; don't 
detain them, nor quarrel with them." 

A missionary spoke to the natives on the commandments. On 
the first commandment a negro said to himself, I am guilty, and so 
also of the second, third and fourth, I am guilty. But when he came 
to the fifth, he said, I am not guilty ; I have never murdered any one. 
"But," said the missionary, ''have you never wished that such a 
man or such a woman might be dead? " " Oh, I am guilty, massa, 
I am that person. This morning before breakfast, I wished that ten 
certain persons were dead; I never thought I was so bad a man." 
Then the missionary preached Christ crucified to them, who can take 
all our sins away. 

A dying woman in Wurtemburg was asked by her pastor, if she 
had anything on her heart on account of which she had called him ? 
Slie answered cheerfully, " No, pastor, nothing." And when her 
pastor, who knew her to be a pious christian woman, asked her again, 
if she had nothing at all on her heart, she replied again, " No, pastor, 
nothing at all, except my sins, which are as the sands of the sea." 

A teacher in Africa asked the children, ** Have we anything that 
we have not received from God ? ' ' They hesitated, the most of them 
thought we had received everything from God, but a little Hottentot 
child said, " Yes, there is something we have not received from God, 
that is our sins. ' ' 

Some one remarked that many of the great saints in the almanac 
are great sinners. *'Yes," said Newton, "they are indeed poor 
saints, if they have never felt that they were great sinners." 



98 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

Anus was a false teacher in the fourth century, who denied the 
divinity of Christ. He was to be re installed into the church, but the 
pious Bishop Alexander prayed to God a whole night that he would 
rescue the honor of his only begotten Son. The next day Arius and 
his companions rode in triumph through the streets of the city, when 
he was suddenly taken ill and died. 

After Duke Ugolino had attained the summit of his ambition by 
means of deceit and many evil deeds, he said to one of his attendants, 
** Lambardo, what more can I look for ? " "The wrath of God " re- 
plied Lambardo. 

The Danish missionary Hansel relates of the inhabitants of the 
island of Nicabar, among whom he labored, that it was difficult to 
convince them of the necessity of redemption, because they regarded 
themselves as such good people. They said, " What you say about a 
redeemer from sin will do very well for bad people, but not for us 
who are so good. 

In the first commandment God says, " I will hs-VQ thy heart,^^ 
and in the ninth and tenth, he says, " The world with all its lusts 
and vanities shall not have thy heart." Thus the end corresponds 
with the beginning. The commandments begin with the heart and 
end with the heart. He who keeps the first commandment possesses 
the fountain of all good works and righteousness ; namely, the love 
of God ; and he who keeps the last commandment closes up the foun- 
tain of all sin ; namely, the sinful desires from which all evil works 
proceed. 

Luther used to say, the world is like a bad nut ; outside it looks 
beautiful, but inside it is rotten. The world is like a drunken man ; 
if you lift him into the saddle on one side of the horse, he will fall 
down on the other side. 

Of all thine accumulated treasures, the coffin and the shroud goes 
with thee to the tomb ; everything else must be left behind. Blessed 
art thou if thou hast a treasure laid up in heaven. 

A man had a valuable horse that he had bought for ^500. Some- 
time afterwards he chased a rabbit on horseback, and shot it, too ; 
but he rode his horse to death in doing so. 

So foolish do they act who run after the pleasures of this world 
and thereby lose their own souls. 

When the world, the flesh and the devil would entice thee, then 
think on these four words. Deaths Judgment, Heaven, Hell. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 



99 



God sees the heart and judges it, not according to the actions, 
but the actions according to the heart. He looks not only on the 
superscription of the metal, but on the metal itself out of which the 
money is coined. 

Death, which is the wages of sin, is of three kinds, 
I Spiritual death, which is a separation of the soul from God. 
Isaiah lix. 2. 

2. Bodily death, which is a separation of the soul from the 
body. Romans v. 12 ; and 

3. Eternal death, which is a separation of body and soul from 
God. Rev. xxi. 8. 

" How does our good old school master come on ? " inquired one 
who had returned to the village after a long absence. The reply 
was, *' He is dead and yet liveth." Though dead, yet he speaketh. 
The memory of the just remaineth forever. 




ICX) ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 



PART II. 

THE CREED. 

7^7. What is a Christian Creed? 
A Christian Creed is 

1. A short statement of the doctrines taught in the 
Holy Scriptures ; 

2. In which we confess our faith, and 

3. Which distinguishes us from all unchristian people. 
i/f.8. Why is this called the Apostles' Creed ? 

It is called the Apostles' Creed, not because the Apos- 
tles' wrote it, but because it is founded on the Apostles' 
doctrines. 

i^g. How was the Apostles' Creed formed? 

No particular author of the Apostles' Creed is given, 
but it grew up gradually in the church during the second 
and third centuries from the confession of Peter, and the 
Baptismal formula. 

Matt. xvi. 16. And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art 
the Christ, the Son of the living God. 

Matt, xxviii. 19. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptiz- 
ing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
Ghost. 

750. How is the Apostles' Creed divided? 

The Apostles' Creed is divided into three articles. 

^ 75/. Of what do these articles treat? 

1. The first article treats of creation. 

2. The second article treats of redemption. 

3. The third article treats of redemption and sancti- 
fication. 



ILXUSTRATED CATECHISM. lOI 



THE FIRST ARTICLE. 



1^2. What is the first article of the Creed? 

" I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of 
heaven and earth." 

I 53' ^hat is meant by this article f 

1. I believe that God has created me and all that exists; 

2. That he has given, and still preserves to me my 
body and soul, with all my limbs and senses, my reason 
and all the faculties of my mind, together with my raiment, 
food, home and family, and all my property ; 

3. That he daily provides me abundantly with all the 
necessaries of life, protects me from danger, and preserves 
me and guards me from evil ; 

4. All which he does out of pure, paternal and divine 
goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me. 

5. For all which I am in duty bound to thank, praise, 
serve and obey him. This is most certainly true ! 

75^. Of what does the first article treat ? 

The first article of the Creed treats 

1. Of Creation, and 

2. Of Preservation. ' 

755. What do you imderstand by the words " Creator 
of Heaven and Earth ? " 

By these words we understand that God made all 
things out of nothing. 

1^6. To whom is creation ascribed ? 

Creation is especially ascribed to 

1. God the Father, 

Gen. i. i. In the beginning God created the heaven and the 
earth. 

2. Yet so that God the Son is not excluded ; 

John i. 3 All things were made by him, and without him was 
not any thing made that was made. 



102 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

3. And also the Holy Ghost is not excluded. 

Psalm xxxiii. 6. By the word of the Lord were the heavens 
made : and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. 

I 57' Of "^hat do the created things consist ? 
All created things consist of 

1. Those which are visible and 

2. Those which are invisible. 

1^8. Which are the visible things of creation ? 

The visible things of God's creation are the Heavens 
and the Earth and all that they contain, of which man is 
the most important part. 

/jp. Why is man the most important part of God's 
creation ? 

Man is the most important part of God's creation on 
earth, because God 

1 . Gave him a wonderful body and a rational mind. 

2. Made him in his own image and likeness. 

Gen. i. 26 And God said, I/et us make man in our own image, 
after our likeness. 

3. Bestowed on him the dominion over all living 
creatures on earth. 

Gen. i 26. And God said, let us make man in our own image, 
after our likeness : and let them have dominion over the fish of the 
sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the 
earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 

4. And as the whole world could not redeem man, 
Christ shed his precious blood for him. 

Matt. xxvi. 28 For this is my blood of the New Testament, 
whijh is shed for many for the remission of sins. 

5 And thus purchased for him the title of a child of 

God and the inheritance of the kingdom of heaven. 

Gal. iv. 4. But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent 
forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law. 

Gal. iv 5. To redeem them that were under the law, that he 
might receive the adoption of sons. 

Gal. iv. 6. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the 
Spirt of his Son into your hearts, crying Abba, Father. 

Gal. iv. 7. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son ; 
and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. IO3 

160. Which are the invisible things of God's creation ? 

The invisible things of God are 

1. The good angels which kept their first estate and 
remain good, holy and obedient, and 

2. The bad angels, who kept not their first estate, but 
fell off from God and rebelled against him. 

161. To whom are we indebted for our preservation f 

We are indebted for our preservation to the Triune 
God, who bestows upon us the strength to do good. 

Eph. iii. 10. To the intent that now unto the principalities and 
powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the mani- 
fold wisdom of God. 

162. In what way is God our preserver ? 

God is our preserver, 

1. By shielding us from danger and evil ; 

2. By bestowing upon us life and breath ; 

3. By bestowing upon us food and raiment, and all 
the necessaries and comforts of life. 

Acts xvii. 2. For in him we live and move and have our being. 

16 J. Does God exert his preserving power also upon 
evil men ? 

1. God, in wonderful mercy, lets his sun shine and 
his rain descend on evil, as well as good men. 

Matt. V. 45. That ye may be the Children of your Father which 
is in heaven : for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the 
good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. 

2. He also sustains all living creatures, such as the 
beasts of the field, the birds of the air and fishes in the sea. 

3. He also upholds all lifeless things, such as flowers, 
plants, trees, and all worlds are upheld by his power. 

16 ^f.. What is the object of God's preserving care f 

The object of God's preserving care is 
I. The honor and glory of his name, over which 
heartfelt gratitude causes us to rejoice ; 



104 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

2. The welfare of his creatures. 

Rom. ii. 4. Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and for- 
bearance and long suffering ; not knowing that the goodness of God 
leadeth thee to repentance ? 

I Pet. ii. 9. But ye a^e a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, 
an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the 
praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvel- 
ous light. 

EXPIvANATORY NOTES. 

The Apostles' Creed is a confession of the whole Christian church 
of the Triune God and his works. 

' ' I believe on God the Father. ' ' Why do we not say ' ' We believe 
on God," but "I believe on God?" Because each one must believe 
for himself, in order to be saved. 

To believe on God means to accept God's word and testimony as 
true and certain, to place a heartfelt confidence in him and confess him 
with our lips. 

It is therefore not enough 

1. To believe that there is a God. Such faith even the heathen 
and evil spirits possess. Such faith does not help them. We must also 

2. Believe God ; that is, accept his word as true, and we must 

3. Believe in God ; that is, commit ourselves to him and devote 
ourselves to his service. Heb. xi. i ; Rom. x. 10. 

God is one God ; but he has revealed himself in three persons. 
They are called God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy 
Ghost. The faith in the Triune God only is saving faith. 

The Trinity cannot be proved or understood by reason ; it is a 
mystery. This mystery is revealed to us in the Scriptures. In the 
Old Testament the Trinity is indicated. Gen. i. 26 ; Num. vi. 24-26 ; 
Isa. vi. 3. But clearer in the New Testament. Matt, xxviii. 19 ; 2 
Cor. xiii. 13 ; Rev. i. 4-6. 

Man is the image of the Triune God. He consists of spirit, soul 
and body, and yet is but one human^being. See i Thess. v. 23. 

The works of the Triune God are ; i. Creation ; 2. Redemption ; 
3. Sanctification. According to this the Creed is divided into three 
articles. 

The Romanists have divided the Creed into twelve] sentences and 
imagine that each apostle wrote one sentence. 

Our confession of God, the Father, is this : 

' ' I believe in God the Father, the Almighty, the"Creator of heaven 
and earth. ' ' The word Almighty relates to the Father. The words 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. IO5 

heaven and earth indicate the visible and the invisible creatures. The 
word creatures means those things which God has created. 

This first part of the Creed as explained by Luther, contains the 
three great benefits which God has bestowed upon me. 

1. He has created me ; 

2. He provides for me ; 

3. He protects me. 

The second part contains the two reasons of his benefits ; namely, 

1. The Divine Goodness ; 

2. The Divine Mercy. 

The third contains what we owe to God ; namely, 

1. To thank and praise him ; 

2. To serve and obey him. Psalm ciii. 1-13. 

The Invisible Creatures are angels, evidently created at one time 
for the glory of God and the service of man ; but part of whom have 
rebelled against God and become devils. 

This rebellion took place before the fall of man into sin (John viii. 
44; Gen. iii. i, 24). There are therefore ^o<7f/ and ^a^ angels. They 
have spiritual bodies. They are not little children with wings, as they 
are painted, but mighty powers who excel in strength. (Ps. ciii. 20 ; 2 
Thess. i. 7). The angels are not men who have died, as the Swedenbor- 
gians teach. But they are entirely different beings from us. 

The Bible says of them that they are 

1. Swift messengers of God. Psalm civ. 4; Heb. i. 14. 

2. Very wise ; 

3. They can assume human forms ; 

4. They can become visible and invisible ; 

5. They have in part wings. Isa. vi. 

6. Their number is incalculable. Dan. vii. 10 ; Matt. xxvi. 1-5. 

7. Their dwelling is in the higher heaven ; 

8. The evil spirits, or angels, are cast out, and are in the lower 
parts of the air. Bph. vi. 12 ; 

9. These are called demons ; 

10. At their head stands a fallen archangel, who is called in the 
Bible the Old Serpent, the Dragon, or Satan, also the Prince of this 
world, or the Devil. 

The bad angels, enemies of God and man, beyond redemption, ex- 
posed to the eternal judgment, (Matt. xxv. 41,) have great power, but 
can not do as they please. Under God's permitting providence they 
sometimes afflict even the pious with sickness and other trials. Job ii. 
7 ; 2 Cor. xii. 7 ; Luke xiii. 11. 



I06 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

They seek to turn men's souls away from God. Luke xxii. 31. 
They like to take possession of the souls and bodies of the ungodly, 
and urge them to everything bad. Luke xi. 24. They propagate false 
doctrines, (Matt. xiii. 24), lay hindrances in the way of the servants of 
God, (2 Thess. ii. 18,) and rob the hearers of the preached word, (Luke 
viii. 12), and stir up persecutions against the kingdom of Christ. Rev. 
ii. 10. But they must finally be overruled for the wellfare of the saints 
in time and eternity. Psa. Ixxviii. 49 ; Matt, xviii. 34. In our conflict 
with Satan and his evil spirits, we can gain the victory only when we 
take on the whole armor of God. Eph. vi. 12, etc. The Lord Jesus has 
gained the victory over the kingdom of Satan. Col. ii. 15 ; Heb. ii. 14. 
When we have Jesus with us and in us, we are stronger than Satan. 
I John V. 4. 

The good angels see God, and praise his works, (Job xxxviii. 7») 
especially the work of redemption, (Luke i. 26, 31 ; ii. 13) ; they re- 
joice when sinners repent, (Luke xv. 7, 10) ; they are appointed as 
guardians of the children, (Matt, xviii. 10; Acts xii. 15); they help 
the pious in every good work, and protect them in danger against the 
assaults of the evil spirits, (Psa. xxxiv. 8; xci. 11, etc ; Dan. vi. 22; 
X. 13 ; Matt. i. 19 ; John v. 4 ; Acts x. 3, etc ; they are near to the dy- 
ing saints, and convey their souls to their heavenly rest. Lukexvi. 
22, Finally they accompany the Savior on his return to judgment, 
(Matt. XXV. 31, etc,) they gather the nations to judgment, (Matt, xx. 
31), separate the pious from the ungodly, (Matt. xiii. 41), bind the evil 
spirits and cast them with the ungodly into the burning lake, (Matt, 
xiii. 42, 50,) and bring the righteous to the right hand of the Lord and 
at last to the new earth. 

The Visible Creatures, (man.) In the Holy Scriptures we have in- 
dications that the earth when first created was something different from 
its description in Gen. i. i. It was perhaps the habitation of an archan- 
gel, (Jude vi.) ; but in consequence of the rebellion of its possessor and 
his adherents, was destroyed by a flood or by fire. It is possible that the 
petrifactions of animals and plants belong to this first world, which had 
a much earlier existence than the present formation of the earth. But 
God new-created this present earth in six days, as was revealed to 
Moses, and gave it to man as his habitation. Hence the jealousy and 
wrath of Satan against man. 

Man is the noblest creature, because created in the image and like- 
ness of God. This image and likeness was lo%t through sin ; but re- 
newed through the redemption of Christ. Eph. iv. 22-24. 

The image of God consisted in the uncreated wisdom, righteous- 
ness, happiness and the royal dominion over the earth and the powers 
of nature. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 10/ 

To the body God has given eyes, ears and all its members. Eyes 
and ear s are especially mentioned, because they are the noblest mem- 
bers. 

To the soul he has given reason and all the senses. Reason is the 
spirit, by which we percieve and know God. Besides the five senses 
we also have other powers of mind and soul ; such as will, memory, 
imagination, etc. 

By the fall into sin, the whole man, as to spirit, soul and body, has 
become depraved and exposed to death, (bodily, spiritual and eternal.) 

The depraved human nature is called the Old Adam, and the sin- 
ful depravity, which is inherited by all men, is called original sin. 

Preservation and Providence. Another blessing is, that God pre- 
serves and upholds us and the whole world. Psalm cxix. 90, 91 ; Gen. 
viii. 22 ; Heb. i. 3. 

He provides us with food and raiment and all the necessaries and 
comforts of life. Psalm cxl v. 15,16. 

Why is God so kind to us, and what do we owe him in return ? 
God is kind to us, not because we have deserved the least of his favors, 
but he does this out of pure paternal love and mercy ; and we should 
therefore, praise, thank, serve and obey him in return for his goodness 
to us. 

ANECDOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Scriptural Examples. I believe, this is most certainly true. Gen. 
i. 13-22 ; Heb. xi. 7 ; Abraham's call, Heb. xi. 8 ; Abraham as a 
stranger in Canaan, Gen. xii-xxiii ; Heb. xi. 9, 10 ; Abraham at the 
promise. Gen. xv ; at the sacrifice of Isaac, Gen. xxii ; Heb. xi. 17-19; 
Isaac, Gen. xxvii. 29 ; Heb. xi. 20 ; Jacob, Gen. xlviii. 13-19 ; Heb. xi. 
21 ; Joseph, Gen. 1. 24 ; Heb. xi. 22 ; Moses, xi. 24-26 ; xi. 27 ; The 
disciples. Matt. xvii. 14-21 ; Zacharias, Luke i. 20 ; Thomas, John xx. 
25-29. 

An Arab was asked, "How do you know that there is a God?" 
He replied, ' ' I know it by the same means, that I can tell by the foot- 
prints in the sand, whether a man or a beast has passed that way." 

An infidel asked a Christian, scoffingly, whether his God was a 
great or a small God ? ' ' He is so great, ' ' replied the Christian, ' ' that 
the heavens and the earth cannot contain him, and yet, he is so small, 
that he can dwell in this heart of mine. ' ' 

In a Christian company, a minister said to a little boy, ' ' I will 
give you an orange if you will tell me where God is." The little boy 
replied, ' ' I will give you two oranges, if you will tell me where God is 
not " 



I08 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

A* Hindoo declared, that God does everything in man, both the 
good and the bad. Other Hindoos agreed with him. But the mission- 
ary told the following story : A thief was brought before the Judge, 
and asked why he had stolen. The thief replied that he had not stolen ; 
it was God in him who had stolen. The Judge sentenced him to be 
whipped and sent to prison, When the thief begged for mercy the 
Judge replied, ' ' my friend, I did not order you to be whipped, but God 
in you, who has stolen. ' ' Then the people began to laugh, and said, 
** God can not steal, nor be whipped." 

A missionary declared in his sermon that God is everywhere 
present, sees everything, and knows our most secret thoughts. Upon 
this the heathen cried out, "We don't want such a God, who sees 
ever3i;hing ; we have no use for such a God ; we want to live a free 
life, and do not wish anyone to see and hear what we do. ' ' 

Anton Musa, pastor at Rocklitz, complained to Dr. Luther, that 
often he could not believe all he preached. ' ' Thank God, ' ' replied 
Luther, ' ' that others have the same experience that I have. I thought 
I alone had this experience. Our God and his Gospel are too great for 
us poor creatures fully to grasp. 

A minister asked the children, ' ' What is faith ? " As none of 
them could give the correct answer, the pastor himself tried, but could 
not give a correct definition. Then a farmer stepped forward and 
asked permission to answer the question. On permission being given 
by the pastor, he held his hat toward him, and told him to take it. 
The pastor tried to do so, but the farmer would not let the hat go. 
When the pastor became irritated the farmer said, ' ' You see, this is 
what I call faith, when you holdfast to what you have, and let no en- 
emy take it from you," 

When Antonius, the distinguished Egyptian hermit, heard a 
heathen philosopher scoff at the Christian religion, he replied, ' ' With 
all your philosophy and worldly wisdom, you have never converted a 
soul to heathenism, but we have by our faith converted many thou- 
sands to the Gospel. ' ' 

The triune God. When Velenrio, Prof, at Wittenberg, was lying 
sick, some of his friends visited him and inquired about his condition, 
he answered cheerfully, ' ' God, the Father, loves me, God, the Son, is 
my Redeemer, and God, the Holy Ghost, is my Comforter, why should 
I be sad." 

When the preacher Hermes lay on his deathbed, some one said to 
him, " You have fought a good fight." He replied, "Yes, God be 
merciful to me, a sinner." 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. IO9 

Faith and love are the two sisters, whom the Lord loveth. Faith 
is Mary, sitting at the feet of Jesus, and love is Martha, with her both 
hands full to do. 

Luther says, " Faith is a li\'ing, active, mighty thing, for which it 
is impossible not to be continually doing good. It asks not whether there 
are good works to do, but before the asking it has already done them, 
and is constantly doing. ' ' 

The first Christians used to say in times of persecution, ' ' Our faith 
in the tribulation of this time is like the fish which lives in the stormy 
sea, but cannot be crushed or drowned by its waves. ' ' 

To be satisfied with a secret faith is just as if we would say to God, 
^ ' I regard thee as my Lord, but I do not tell it to the people ; I love 
thee, but the people need not know it." 

A Christian may be painted as one placed between God and man, 
ha\dng two hands, the hand oi faith and the hand of love. With the 
hand oi faith he reaches up toward heaven, and receives di\T.ne bless- 
ings ; with the hand of love he reaches downward toward his neighbor 
and imparts blessings upon him. 

He who sees no e\idence of the existence of God in natiire is blind, 
as the beast that sees the heavens, but does not know and does not 
think who dwells there. . 

To admire the beauties of nature is like a child that enjoys the 
gilding and engravings of a book, without concerning itself about its 
contents. 

fohn Frederick, the Elector of Saxony, when a sudden storm of 
thunder and lightning arose, stretched out his right hand toward 
heaven and exclaimed, " O thou eternal, almighty God ! Thoulettest 
thyself be heard, that thou still livest. ' ' 

St. Augustine says, ' ' God gave man two books, which he wishes 
him to study ; namely, the Book of Nature, and the Book of the Holy 
Scriptures. As the first book is somewhat hard to understand, as we 
see in the case of the heathen and their foolish superstition ; therefore 
the second one, the Holy Scriptures, was added. ' ' 

Man is the noblest of God's creatures, because he was created in 
the image and likeness of God. This image consisted in the wisdom 
or reason, righteousness and holiness in which he was created. To 
this also was added immortality, freedom and dominion over the earth, 
and all animated nature. 



no ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 



CR:eATlON AND PROVIDENCES. 



God has created and preserves me and all creatures. 

Scriptural Examples. Creation, Gen. i. i, 2 ; The Israelites, Ex. 
xvi. 4, 13, 14 ; xvii. 6, 7 ; Elijah, i Kings xvii. 19 ; The feeding of the 
5000 and 4000, Matt. xiv. 17, 19 ; xv. 33, 34 ; Noah, Gen. vi, vii ; Lot, 
Gen. xix ; Joseph, Gen. xxxvii.-li. ; Moses, Ex. ii. 1-9 ; Daniel vi ;, 
Jonah ii ; The child Jesus, Matt. ii. 12 ; Peter, Actsxii. 11 ; Paul, Acts- 
xxvii. 

To the question, v^hat God was doing before heaven and earth 
were created, St. Augustine replied, ' ' He built a hell for such over- 
inquisitive persons who are not satisfied with his word. ' ' 

Dr. Luther gave a similar answer to one who asked him, what God- 
was doing during the long eternity before he created the world. 
Luther replied, * ' He was in the woods cutting switches to scourge im- 
pertinent questioners." 

A philosopher asked the hermit Antonius, * ' Dear father, how can 
you content yourself here in the wilderness without books ? ' ' Anton- 
ius replied, * * My book is the whole, great world and all creatures in it ; 
I have not far to go to find it, as oft as I wish to read the word of God." 

Justus Jonas once placed a branch full of ripe cherries over his table 
in memory of the creation and the blessings which God bestowed upon, 
us. Luther said to him, "Why do you not consider this much more 
in regard to your children, which far surpass all other creatures and 
fruits of the trees ? ' ' 

Missionary Ziegenbalg translated the New Testament into the: 
Malabar language with the assistance of one of the natives. When 
they came to i John iii. i, " Behold, what manner of love the Father- 
hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God, ' ' the 
assistant was unwilling to translate the passage literally, he said, "Not 
that is too high, that is too much, that God should call us his children. 
Instead of that I will translate, that we should be permitted to kiss his- 
feet ; that would be glory enough. ' ' 

When Dr. Luther saw the cattle in the pasture, he said, ' ' There 
are our preachers, the milk-carriers, the butter-carriers, the cheese-car- 
riers, the wool-carriers, who daily preach to us faith in God, that we 
shall trust him as our Father, who cares for us, and will nourish us. 

Dr. Lushington was asked whether he believed in a special provi- 
dence of God ? ' ' Yes, ' ' said he, * * in the great events of life. " " How 
unphilosophical and unscriptural," replied Wilberforce, " Are not the 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. Ill 

small links and members of a chain just as necessary to keep the whole 
together as the great ones ? Small and great has relation only to our 
smallness, but with God there is nothing great and nothing small. ' ' 

During a great flood in the Netherlands in 1571, in which 20,000 
people lost their lives, an infant was found in its cradle, which had 
floated away and lodged upon a hill. A cat was lying beside the child 
and kept it warm. The child was sleeping. 

In the Parochial Church in Berlin, the minister stood upon the 
pulpit at three o'clock in the afternoon, when he was struck by a streak 
of lightning. This did not kill him, however, but healed his left ear, 
which had been deaf for a long time. 

When the storm destroyed the so-called invincible armada of 
Philip II, king of Spain, Queen Elizabeth of England had a coin struck, 
with this inscription, ' ' God caused his wind to blow upon them and 
they were sunk to the bottom of the sea." 

Luther says, Moses built the tabernacle with three divisions. The 
first was called the Holy of Holies, wherein God dwelt ; the second 
was the Holy Place, wherein was the golden candlestick with seven 
lamps ; the third was the Court, which was open to the light of heaven. 
Thus also is man. His spirit is the Holy of Holies, in which God 
dwells ; his soul is the Holy Place, wherein are seven lamps ; namely, 
his intellect, his knowledge of material and visible things ; his body is 
the Court, open and visible to everybody, that we can see what he 
does and how he lives. 

James Grunams was asked, how old he was. He expressed it in 
this way, ' ' On such a day of such a year I began to sin ' ' 

Chrisostom says, the devil is like a hungry dog, that sneaks in to 
a company sitting at the dinner table. If you give him a piece of 
bread or a bone, he will constantly come again and hold on to you. 
But if you will give him nothing, he will forsake you, and try some- 
where else. 

It is said of the lion, that he cannot endure firelight, or torches, 
but will flee from them. Mark this fact, when the roaring lion, the 
devil, attacks you ; take the light of the word of God, and hold it be- 
fore you, and he will certainly flee from you. 

God protects and upholds us not because we deserve any favor 
from him, but purely from paternal love and mercy. This imposes a 
two-fold duty upon us ; namely, gratitude and praise, and service and 
obedience. 



112 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

It is related of an Arab, that being on tbe point of perishing in the 
wilderness, of hunger and thirst — he came to a well and quenched his 
thirst. As he was going on he saw a sack lying in the sand : he took 
it up and felt that it contained small grains, * ' These are grains of 
wheat," said he, "now I shall also be saved from starvation." He 
hastily opened the sack, but when he looked in, he saw that they were 
pearls. In sadness he threw them away, exclaiming, ' ' Alas, they are 
only pearls. ' ' 

The Elector, John Frederick of Saxony, reviewed his army on one 
occasion, and a nobleman said to him, " Your majesty, these are the 
protectors of your land and people. ' ' But the pious Elector replied, 
'■* O they are poor protectors, when God does not defend us ! " 

Why should mortal man be proud ? As to his body, it is taken 
from the earth, and must return to dust and ashes ; as to his soul, he is 
a sinner ; as to his life, he is a stranger and a so-journer on earth. 

Pope Hadrian VI. had two cities painted on a tablet ; the one was 
Utrecht, where he was born ; the other was Lyons, where he received 
his education. Beneath them stood the likeness of the Emperor, 
Charles V. Then the inscription followed : "I was planted at Utrecht, 
watered at Lyons, and the Emperor gave the increase. ' ' Some one 
wrote with chalk below : ' * Here God has done nothing ! ' ' 

Abraham Bachholzer said, ' ' I have found five things to commend 
in St. Paul. He gloried in his weakness, in the cross of Christ, in his 
good conscience, in tribulation and the hope of eternal life." 

Melchior Adam was asked, for what purpose man was created ? ■ 
He replied, Lnther has taught that in the first article of the Creed ; 
namely, to thank, praise, serve and obey God. When asked, how we 
can in this life have a fortaste of heaven ? he replied, ' ' By praising 
God and loving our neighbor ; for that is all we shall do in the blessed 
life to come." 

The people murmured, because it rained in the harvest time, while 
there had been a long drought before. Then said Luther, ' ' That is 
the way in which the world thanks God. If the Lord had not spared 
the world for the sake of a few faithful ones, it would long ago have 
been destroyed." 

After Melanchton's beloved daughter had died, Luther and some 
friends came to console him ; but he seemed inconsolable, and kept on 
walking back and forth in his room. At last he stepped up to his 
table, and took up a book of Psalms ; as he opened it his eye fell upon 
Psalm c. 3, " Know ye not that the Lord, he is God ; it is he that hath 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 113 

made us, and not we ourselves." Then he felt himself reproved and 
comforted, and turning to his friends he said, "If God has made u^ 
why should we not be resigned to his will ? ' ' 

The sainted Deiterich of Blberfeld, once traveled with some of 
his friends in a wagon, when the conversation was about the many 
troubles with which we are beset in this world. He rode backwards on 
wagon. Then he said to his friends, "You must do as I do on this 
ride, you must ride backwards. From your seats you look only for- 
wards, and see every stone, obstacle, deep rut, or precipice, by which 
you have to pass, and you trouble yourselves with the dangers you 
apprehend. But I see all these things only after we have safely passed 
them, and every stone and every difficulty is to me only a reason for 
praise and thanksgiving to God, that we have safely passed them, 
whereas they cause you only anxiety and fear." 

Lewis Choguet, an evangelical colporteur in Lille, France, was by- 
mistake sent to prison in Calais. Calmly and tired he lay down in 
the afternoon and fell asleep, until a peculiar noise waked him. He 
looked up and saw a man, who had in the meantime been brought into 
prison and had hanged himself. Choguet quickly released him,, and 
spoke to the unfortunate man about his horrible deed. The Lord 
blest his words to the comfort and good of the man. Now the pious 
colporteur understood the misunderstanding, and thanked God that he 
had permitted him to be imprisoned. 

The Elector Frederick, and his brother Duke Hans came hy ship 
on the river Bib from Torgau to Wittenberg at a time when the ice 
broke up and beat against the ship from every side. Scarcely had 
they landed at Wittenberg, when the ship parted and the pieces sank 
to the bottom. Then the Elector said to his brother, "We must 
confess that God has preserved us. Let us thank God, who has deliv- 
ered us from this and many other dangers." 

Dr. Hutton, Bishop of Durham, being once on a journey, suddenly 
dismounted and gave his horse to the care of a servant. He then went 
a short distance from the highway, knelt down and remained some 
time in pra3^er. On his return one of the company asked him the 
cause of this action. The Bishop replied, "When I was a poor boy, 
without shoes or stockings, I came to this place on a frosty morning, 
being very cold, I drove up a cow that was lying on the ground, and 
lay down in her place to warm my cold limbs." 

A North American Indian once came to the great Niagara Fall^ 
and was deeply impressed by the wonderful sight. He stood for some 



114 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

time in adoration of the Great Spirit. At last he took what he re- 
garded as his best and most beautiful treasure — his smoke-pipe, and 
cast it into the surging waters, as a sacrifice to the Great Spirit. 

An eminent minister, after having been silent in a company for a 
considerable time, and being asked the reason, signified, that the pow- 
ers of his mind had been solemnly absorbed with the thought of eter- 
nal happiness. . " O my friends, ' ' he said with energy that surprised 
all present, ' ' consider what it is, to be forever with the Lord — forever, 
forever, forever ! ' ' 

THE SECOND ARTICLE. 

i6^. What is the second article of the Creed ? 

1. And on Jesus Christ his only begotten Son ; 

2. Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost; 

3. Born of the Virgin Mary; 

4. Suffered under Pontius Pilate ; 

5. Was crucified, dead and buried; 

6. Decended into hell ; 

(Place of departed spirits, Hades.) 

7. On the third day rose from the dead; 

8. Ascended up to heaven ; 

9. Sitteth on the right hand of God, the Almighty 
Father ; 

10. Whence he will come again to judge the living 
and the dead. • 

166. What is the meaning of this article ? 

1. I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of 
the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the 
Virgin Mary, is my Lord, 

2. Who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned 
sinner. 

3. Secured and delivered me from all sins, from death 
and the power of the devil. 

4. Not with silver and gold, but with his holy and 
precious blood, and with his innocent sufferings and death. 

5. In order that I might be his, live under him in his 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. Il5 

"kingdom, and serve him in everlasting righteousness, inno- 
cence and blessedness. 

6. Even as he is risen from the dead, aud lives and 
reigns to all eternity. This is most certainly true. 

7(5/. Of what does the second article of the Apostles' 
Creed treat ? 

The second article of the Apostles' Creed treats of 
Christ ; namely, 

1. Of his person; 

2. Of his offices, and 

3. Of his two states. 

168. What does this article teach in regard to his 
person ? 

In regard to the person of Christ, the second article of 
the Creed teaches that he is true God and Man. 

i6g. How do you show that Christ is true God ? 

The Scriptures represent Christ as true God, in that 
they not only speak of him as, 

1. The ** only begotten Son of God;" 

John i. 14. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, 
(and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the 
Father,) full of grace and truth. 

Psalms ii. 7. I will declare the decree : the Lord bath said unto 
me, Thou art my Son ; this day have I begotten thee. 

Galatians ii. 9. And when James, Cephas and John, who seemed 
to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave 
to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship ; that we should go 
unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision. 

2. But also apply divine names to him ; 

I John V. 20. And we know that the Son of God is come, and 
hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, 
and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is 
the true God, and eternal life. 

3. Divine attributes are attributed to him ; 

Matthew xxviii. 20, Teaching them to observe all things what- 
soever I have commanded you : and, lo, I am with you alway, even 
unto the end of the world. Amen. 



Il6 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM.^ 

John xxi. 17. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of 
Jonas, lovest thou me ? Peter was grieved because he said unto him 
the third time, lyovest thou me ? And he said unto him, Lord, thou 
knowest all things ; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto 
him, Feed my sheep. 

4. Divine works were performed by him, such as 

a. The creation of the world ; 

John i. 3. All things were made by him, and without him was 
not anything made that was made. 

b. Preservation ; 

Hebrew i. 3. Who being the brightness of his glory, and the ex- 
press image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of 
his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the 
right hand of the Majesty on high. 

c. Redemption ; 

5. Divine honor is conferred upon him. 

John V. 13. And he that was healed wist not who it was : for 
Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place. 

John V. 21. For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quick- 
eneth them ; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. 

Hebrew i. 6. And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten 
into the world, he saith, And let all the augels of God worship him. 

770. How do you show that Christ is also true man ? 

Christ is true man, or has a true human nature, be- 
cause he took upon himself a human body and a human 
soul, having been born of the Virgin Mary, grown up from 

infancy to manhood, suffered, died and was buried. 

Hebrew ii. 14. Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of 
flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same ; that 
through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, 
that is, the devil. 

Hebrew ii. 16 For verily he took not on him the nature of an- 
gels ; but he took on him. the seed of Abraham. 

lyi. Why was it necessary that Christ should be 7nan ? 

It was necessary that Christ should be man, 

I. In order that he might endure sufferings, such as 

hunger, thirst, weariness, also, joy, sorrow; yet without 

sin; 

Luke X. 21. In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I 
thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid 
these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto 
babes : even so, Father ; for so it seemed good in thy sight. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 11/ 

Matthew xxvi. 28. For this is my blood of the new testament, 
which is shed for many for the remission of sins. 

Hebrew iv. 15. For we have not an high priest which cannot be 
touched with the feeling of our infirmities ; but was in all points 
tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 

2. In order that he might die and make atonement 

for our sins. 

Hebrew ii. 17. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be 
made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faith- 
ful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation 
for the sins of the people. 

iy2. Why zvas it necessary that Christ should also be 

true God? 

It was necessary that Christ should be divine in his 
nature, in order that his sufferings and death might be a 
perfect atonement for sin and reconciliation with God. 

Romans v. 10. For if, when we were enemies, we were recon- 
ciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, 
we shall be saved by his life. 

77J. What does the second article of the Creed teach in 
regard to the offices of Christ? 

Christ is presented to us in the Scriptures as our High 
Priest, our Prophet and our King. 

77/. What has Christ done for us as our High Priest? 

As our High Priest Christ has redeemed us by his 
blood, 

1. From sin and death; 

Coiossians ii 13. And you, being dead in your sins and the un- 
circumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, 
having forgiven you all trespasses. 

Coiossians ii. 14. Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances 
that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the 
way, nailing it to his cross. 

Coiossians ii. 15. And having spoiled principalities and powers, 
he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. 

2. From the power of Satan ; 

Hebrew ii. 14. Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of 
flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same ; that 
through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, 
that is, the devil. 



Il8 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

Hebrew ii. 15. And deliver them who through fear of death 
were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 

Hebrew ii. 17. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be 
made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faith- 
ful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation 
for the sins of the people. 

3. Reconciled us with God ; 

Ephesians ii. 16. And that he might reconcile both unto God in 
one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby. 

4. Purchased and delivered us out of our state of sin 

and wrath ; 

Ephesians ii. 3. Among whom also we all had our conversation 
in times past in the lusts of our flesh, falfiUing the desires of the flesh 
and of the mind ; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as 
others. 

5. Restored us into a state of grace. 

775. What does Christ do for us as our Prophet? 

As our Prophet he instructs us in the doctrines of the 
gospel, and reveals to us the council of God in our salva- 
tion. He calls upon us to believe, and declares what shall 
be the condition of those who remain faithful to the end, 
and of those who continue finally in their impenitence. 

iy6. What does Christ do for us as our King? 

As our King Christ rules in and over his believing 
people in the kingdom of grace on earth, and over the re- 
deemed in the kingdom of glory in heaven. 

Colossians i. 1 8, And he is the head of the body, the church : 
who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead ; that in all things 
he might have the pre eminence. 

John xvii. 24. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast 
given me, be with me where I am ; that they may behold my glory, 
which thou hast given me : for thou lovedst me before the foundation 
of the world. 

777. What does the second article of the Creed teach 

in regard to the two states of Christ ? 

The second article treats of Christ's 

1. State of Humiliation, and 

2. State of Exaltation. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. I 1 9 

lyS. Wherein did Christ's humiliation consist? 
Christ's humiliation consisted 

1. In his humble birth ; 

2. In his life of poverty ; 

3. In his mental and bodily sufferings ; 

4. In his death by crucifixion, and 

5. In his burial. 

Isaiah liii. 9. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with 
the rich in his death ; because he had done no violence, neither was 
any deceit in his mouth. 

lyg. How was the death of Christ prefigured in the 

Old Testament? 

The death of Christ was prefigured in the Old Testa- 
ment by 

1. The Passover Lamb ; 

I Corinthians v. 7. Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye 
may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our pass- 
over is sacrificed for us. 

2. The Brazen Serpent; 

John iii. 14. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilder- 
ness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up : 

John iii. 15. That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, 
but have eternal, life. 

180. In what does Christ's exaltation consist ? 
Christ's exaltation consists 

1. In his entrance into 'Paradise, or place of departed 
spirits ; 

2. In his resurrection from the dead ; 

3. In his ascention to heaven ; 

4. In his sitting on the right hand of God, and 

5. In his return to judgment. 

181. What is the mea^iing of the name Christ ? 
The name Christ means, " The Annointed." 

182. After whom are we called? 

We are called Christians, after Christ, or the Annointed 
by the Spirit of God. 

I John ii. 20. But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and 
ye know all things. 



120 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

i8j. What therefore are those who truly bear the name 
of Christ f 

Those who worthily bear the name of Christ are 

1. Spiritual priests, who offer themselves as a living 
sacrifice to God with soul and body ; 

Revelations i. 6. And hath made us kings and priests unto God 
and his Father ; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. 
Amen. 

Romans xii. i. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mer- 
cies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, ac- 
ceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 

2. Prophets, that is teachers in words and deeds ; 

Colossians iii. i6. I/et the word of Christ dwell in you richly in 
all wisdom ; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and 
hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the 
Lord. 

3. Kings, who gain the victory over sin, the world, 
the flesh and the devil. 

Genesis iv. 7 . If thou doest well, shalt not thou be accepted ? 
and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall 
be his desire and thou shalt rule over him. 

Revelations iii. 21. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit 
with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with 
my Father in his throne. 

KXPIvANATORY NOTES. 

God the Son is the second person in the Divine Being, begotten of 
the Father from eternity, and he became man in the fullness of time. 
The second article of the Creed is divided into two parts. 
The first part contains four names of the Lord, namely : i. Jesus ; 
2. Christ ; 3. The Son of God ; 4. Lord. 

The second part embraces the life of the Lord, and this is divided 
into two states, namely : i. The state of humiliation ; 2. The state of 
exaltation. Bach of these states has five steps. His humiliation con- 
sists in I. his birth ; 2. suffering ; 3. crucifixion ; 4. death ; 5. burial. 
His exaltation consists in i. his entrance into Hades, (Paradise, descent 
into hell) ; 2. resurrection ; 3. ascension into heaven ; 4. session at the 
right hand of God ; 5. return to judgment. 

I. The name Jesus means the Redeemer, or Savior. Matt. i. 21. 
It is the sweetest name in a true Christian's ear. 
II. The name Christ — in Hebrew Messiah, in Greek Christ, meaning 
the "anointed," The word Christ does not stand for a family 
name, but for an official name. Jesus is therefore called Christ 
for three reasons ; namely : because he is i. Prophet, 2. Priest, 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM 121 

3. King. But he is anointed not merely with oil, which is a 
symbol of the Spirit, but he is anointed with the Holy Ghost 
himself. Acts x. 38. This occurred at his baptism. Matt, 
iii. 16. Therefore all his disciples are called Christians ; that is 
anointed ones. 

As the Cl^rist, the Lord has been promised from the beginning of 
the world and since. For example to Adam, Abraham, Moses, 
David, Simeon, etc. Read Gen, iii. 15 ; Gen. xxii. 18 ; 2 Saml. 
vii. 12 ; I Saml. xii. 12. 

As a Prophet he was promised to Moses. Deut. xviii. 18. 

As a High Priest, he was promised in Psalm ex. 4 ; Isaiah liii, 4, 5. 

As a King, he was promised in Gen. xlix. 10 ; Psalm ex. i ; Isaiah 

. ix, 6, 7 ; Micah v. i ; Zachariah ix. 9. 

III. The name, Son of God. Jesus is called the " Only Begotten Son 

of God, ' ' because he is the true God. 
There are four proofs of the divinity of Jesus : 

1. The testimony of the Father in a voice from heaven. Luke i. 

35 ; Matt. iii. 17. 

2. The testimony of Christ himself. John viii. 58 ; xvii. 5 ; Matt. 

xviii. 20 ; John xiv. 9 ; John ix. 37 ; John x. 37. 

3. The testimony of the Holy Ghost. Rom. i. 4. 

4. The testimony of angels and men. John the Baptist, John i. 

32-36 ; Peter, John vi. 38 ; Paul, Col. ii. 9 ; John, i John v. 
20 ; The Centurion at the cross ; the angel at the tomb. His 
mother conceived him of the Holy Ghost, that is, God him- 
self is his Father. Luke i. 35 ; Heb. vii. 26. 

IV. The name Lord is given to Christ for two reasons, namely : 

1. On account of his divine nature, because he has created us. 

Heb. i. I, 2. 

2. On account of his human nature, for he has redeemed us by 

his blood and bought us as his own. 
Besides these four principal names the Lord has also many other 

names. For example, Redeemer, Mediator, Intercessor, 

Shepherd, The Vine, Corner Stone, Way, Truth, The Life, 

The Alpha and the Omega. 
The two natures of Jesus. The Lord Jesus has a human and a 
divine nature. The divine nature he derives from the Holy Ghost ; 
the human nature he derived from his mother, the Virgin Mary. Both 
natures are intimately united in him, but yet not intermingled. He is 
God and man in one person, as the "God-man." Therefore divine 
honor and worship are due him. Rom. ix. 5 ; John v. 22, 23 ; Rev. v. 
12. See the Athanasian Creed. 



122 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

The two states of Christ. The Lord Jesus passed through two 
states or conditions in his life, namely : the state of humiliation and 
the state of exaltation. Each one of these states is particularly de- 
scribed in Phil. ii. 5-1 1. 

Luther's explanation of the second article of the Creed. We di- 
vide this into five questions, i. Who is the Redeemer? 2. Whom 
has he redeemed ? 3. From what has he redeemed? 4. Wherewith 
hath he redeemed ? 5. Why hath he redeemed ? 

I, The answer to the first question, Who is the Redeemer? is, The 
Jesus, who is the true God and man, has redeemed, secured and 
delivered me. To redeem means to make free ; for we were 
bound and enslaved by sin and Satan. Delivered, indicates 
that it cost the Lord Jesus much labor and sufifering, and a 
severe conflict with the Prince of darkness to secure our salva- 
tion. 
II. The answer to the second question. Whom has he redeemed ? is, 
Us, lost and condemned sinners. For we are all by nature alien- 
ated from God by sin, and as we could not save ourselves we 
must be forever lost and condemned. But the Son of God has 
redeemed us out of his pure love and mercy. Luke xix. 10 ; i 
Tim. i. 15. 

III. The answer to the third question. From what has Christ redeemed 

us ? is. From three foes we have been freed, namely : sin, death, 
and Satan. We are redeemed from all sin, because the Son of 
God has taken away i. the guilt, and 2. the penalty of sin. i 
John i. 7 ; I Peter ii. 24. 

The guilt of sin he has taken away, because by his perfect obedi- 
ence he has fulfilled the whole law, which we through our dis- 
obedience have violated. Rom. v. 19 ; Col ii. 13, 14. 

The penalty or punishment of sin he has taken away, because 
he took the curse of the law upon himself. Isaiah liii. 4, 5 ; 2 
Cor. V. 21. 

Christ has delivered us from death, because by his death as our 
substitute he took away the power of death. Believers on Jesus 
now die only a bodily, but not a spiritual and eternal death. 
John vi. 40 ; John xi. 25, 26 ; 2 Tim. i. 10. 

Christ has redeemed us from the power of the devil, because the 
devil, Satan, now no more has power over us or claim upon us 
who believe on Jesus, i John iii. 8 ; Heb. ii. 14, 15. 

IV. In answer to the fourth question, Wherewith hath Christ re- 

deemed us? we remark, that all the gold and silver in the 
world could not pay for the redemption of one soul, because 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. I 23 

the soul endures forever. But the eternal is more valuable than 
the temporal. Neither could the wrath of God possibly be 
atoned with money, for our redemption cost infinitely more. 
The Son of God paid for our redemption a three-fold price : 

1. His holy, precious blood, i Peter i. 18, 19 ; 

2. His innocent sufferings ; 

3. His painful death. 

His blood is holy, because he was without sin ; 

His blood is precious, because it is unrequitable, cannot be re- 
paid ; 

His sufferings were innocent, because he was free from sin, and 
no one could find any fault in him. He therefore suffered and 
paid for our transgressions, i Peter iii. 18 ; i Peter ii. 24. 

We speak of the suffering obedience and the active obedience of 
Jesus. By his suffering obedience he endured the penalty of 
our sins, and by his active obedience he took upon himself the 
guilt of our sins. 
V. In answer to the fifth question, Why or for what purpose he hath 
redeemed us ? we find a three-fold reply : 

1 . That I may be his, belong to him ; 

2. Live in his kingdom ; and 

3. Serve him in everlasting righteousness, innocence and blessed- 

ness. 

I belong to Christ, not only because he has created me, but be- 
cause he has redeemed and bought me by his own precious 
blood. Titus ii. 14 ; i Cor. vi. 20. 

This is my only consolation in life and death, that I belong to 
Christ. John xx. 27, 28. 

Therefore I live even now, not in the kingdom of darkness, but 
in the kingdom of Christ. 

Christ's kingdom is a three-fold kingdom : 

1. The kingdom of nature ; 

2. The kingdom of grace ; 

3. The kingdom of glory. 

In all these three kingdoms I will serve him as my king. Col. i- 
12-14. 

For this purpose we need an eternally valid righteousness, inno- 
cence and blessedness. These I have not, indeed, in myself, 
but Christ bestows them upon me out of free grace every day, 
because I believe on him. Rom iv. 25. 

The third article of the Creed instructs us how we may obtain this 
faith 



124 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

ANECDOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Scriptural Examples. The Lepers, Matt. viii. 2 ; The Centurion, 
Matt. viii. 5-10 ; The Canaanitish woman, Matt. ix. 20-22 ; The disci- 
ples, John ii. II ; The Samaritans, John iv. 39, 40-42 ; The disciples, 
Matt. viii. 26 ; Peter, Matt. xiv. 31 ; The disciples, Matt. xvii. 17 ; 
Nathanael, John i. 49; Peter, Matt xvi. 16 ; Mark viii. 29 ; Thomas, 
John XX. 28 ; The Eunuch, Acts viii. 37. 

In South Africa some negroes came to the missionaries and asked 
for those books which contained the verse, ' ' God so loved the world, 
that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him 
should not perish, but have everlasting life." John iii. 16. 

In an old Indian Pagoda is found an image, which illustrates the 
first promise of a Savior (Gen iii. 15), which had been transmitted even 
to heathen nations. It represents a man, whom a large serpent en- 
circles and stings his heel. The same man stands beside him. He 
has released himself from the serpent, holds its body triumphantly 
in his hands, and stamps with one foot upon its head. 

Bishop Liberius of Rome, had been deposed, through. machina- 
tions of Arius, from his office, on account of his faith in the di\'inity of 
Christ, and was unwilling to approve the persecution by the emperor 
Athanasius. The emperor said to him scoffingly, "Wilt thou, who 
art only a handful of earth, resist the whole land ? " To which Liberius 
replied, ' ' The fact that I now stand alone, does not affect the divine 
truth. Were not the three witnesses in Babylon also alone ? Never- 
theless they were in the right against the whole Babylonian empire. ' ' 

On the day of his death, Philip Landgrave of Hessen, who had 
been so active in promoting the Reformation, his attendants read to 
him the twentieth chapter of the Gospel according to St John. When 
the 31 verse was read, "These are written, that ye might believe that 
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have 
life through his name, ' ' he struck his hand upon the table and ex- 
claimed, ' ' That I believe, that I hope, upon this I trust, on this faith 
I will die, and thus it shall stand ! ' ' 

The Allans Confounded. Two of Dr. Priestly's followers, eminent 
men, once called on an old gentleman of the Society of Friends, to ask 
what was his opinion of the person of Christ. After a little considera- 
tion, he replied : ' ' The apostle says, We preach Christ crucified, unto 
the Jews a stumbling-block, because they expected a temporalM.essia.h. ; 
to the Greeks, foolishness, because he was crucified, as a malefactor ; 
but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the 



ILLUSTRATED CAIECHISM. 125 

power of God and the wisdom of God. Now, if you can separate the 
power of God from God, and the wisdom of God from God, I will come 
over to your opinions. ' ' They were both struck dumb, and did not 
attempt to utter a single word in reply. 

Two gentlemen were once disputing on the divinity of Christ. 
One of them, who argued against it, said, " If it were true, it certainly 
would have been expressed in more clear and unequivocal terms." 
' ' Well, ' ' said the other, ' ' admitting that you believed it, were author- 
ized to teach it, and allowed to use your own language, how would 
you express the doctrine to make it indubitable?" "I would say,'* 
replied he, ' ' that Jesus Christ is the true God. " " You are very 
happy, ' ' rejoined the other, ' ' in the choice of your words ; for you have 
happened to hit upon the verj^ words of inspiration. St. John, speak- 
ing of the Son, says, ' This is the true. God and eternal life.' " 

I BELIEVE ON JESUS CHRIST, TRUE GOD AND MAN. 

Scriptural Examples. The disciples, Matt. xiv. 33 ; Nathanael, 
John i. 49 ; The Samaritans, John iv. 42 ; Peter, John vi. 69 ; Matt, 
xvi. 16 ; Mark viii. 29 ; Thomas, John xx. 28 ; The Bunuch, Acts 
viii. 37. . 

As in our times many profess to believe that Christ had only a hu- 
man nature, so on the other hand there were some in the first century of 
the Christian era, who believed that Christ had only a divine nature. 
To these Duke Alamandurus said, " To-day I was informed by letter 
that the archangel Michael had died. ' ' And when they protested that 
this was impossible, he replied, ' ' How then could the Son of God have 
died, if he had not two natures united in his person, if not even an 
angel can die ? ' ' 

St. Bernard of Clairvaux who had died in the year 1153 was a very 
pious man and exerted a very great influence on the times in which he 
lived, but he did not trust upon his piety or self-righteousness for sal- 
vation. He exclaimed on his deathbed, ' ' O Lord Jesus, thou hast 
two kinds of rights in heaven. One, as an heir over all things, because 
thou art God's only begotten Son ; the other, because thou hast gained 
heaven by thy meritorious death. Keep thou the first for thyself, the 
second grant unto me, then !• shall be saved ' ' 

Missionary Cryer visited the city of Conjeveram in Bast India. 
He passed through the streets and read appropriate passages out of the 
Bible to crowds of people, and preached the Gospel to them. More 
than once he saw tears in the eyes of his hearers, and when he spoke 
of the sufferings of Christ they stretched out their hands and called 
out, ' ' Give me a book that tells of the sufferings of Christ. ' ' 



126 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

A missionary among the North American Indians said, that noth- 
ing affected those wild men of the forest so much as the story of the 
Savior. But when he told them of the love of Christ and his suffer- 
ings, tears ran down over the furrowed cheeks of those red men. 

A converted Greenlander was invited by his heathen countrymen 
to join them in the Sun Dance in which they annually engaged, to ex- 
press their joy over the return of the sun. But he replied, ' ' I have an- 
other joy, because another sun, Jesus, has arisen in my heart. I also 
have no time for your dance, because I must hasten to my teachers, 
who are about to celebrate a great festival over the fact, that the great 
Creator of all things was born into the world in order to save us. ' ' 

Melanchton used to say, man comes short in three points, namely: 
in the beginning, the middle and the end — for our birth is depraved, 
our life is perverse, and our death dangerous. Against these three 
evils Christ has provided three remedies : his birth has sanctified our 
birth, his life has become the rule of our life, and his death has taken 
the sting from our death." 

Just as the sun does not lose its glory when a cloud obscures its 
light, but is only temporarily hidden, so the humanity which Christ 
assumed, did not extinguish his divinity, but could only hide, but not 
prevent it from visibly flashing out before men. 

Many years ago, a woman had fallen into a great sin, and became 
very melancholy on that account. If she thought of the day of judg- 
ment, she dreaded the torments of hell, if she thought of heaven, she 
said, I am a sinner and cannot enter heaven, if she thought of the suf- 
ferings of Christ, she said, Yes, I have trodden his blood under my un- 
hallowed feet. But when at Christmas she heard how the Lord Jesus 
had become a little child, that our hearts should realize, that we could 
speak with him as with a little child, she became encouraged and 
gained a new hope. 

Godfrey, Duke of Bullion, had led the " army of the Crusaders, 
through many dangers and difficulties into Palestine, and took the 
city of Jerusalem by storm. When, therefore, his soldiers wished'to 
make him king of Jerusalem, and place a golden crown upon his head> 
he said, ' ' God forbid that I should wear a royal golden crown in the 
place where my Lord and Savior wore a crown of thorns. ' ' 

A youth came to one of the Fathers and asked him what it was to 
be crucified to the world? " Go out," said the Father, " to the ceme- 
tery, call the dead, and say : ' Come forth ; lovely spring is here, the 
sky is blue and the birds are singing. ' ' ' The youth did so, and when 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. . 12/ 

he returned, the Father asked, "What did the dead respond?" 
" Nothing," said the youth. "Go again," said the Father, "call the 
dead and say, ' A violent storm is brewing in the sky ; arise and hasten 
that ye may get under shelter, for the storm is impending. ' ' ' On the 
youth's return the Father again asked, * ' What have the dead replied? ' ' 
'' Nothing,"" s,a.\^ the youth. "Then go again," said the Father, 
"and praise the dead, and if they will not hear you, scold them." 
' * O my Father, ' ' replied the youth, ' * that will also be in vain ; they 
will not respond to praise or blame. ' ' Then said the Father, ' ' See my 
son, to be indifferent to the world's pleasures and woes, its wooings 
and threatnings, its praises and reproaches, that it is to be crucified to 
the world. ' ' 

* Mr. Robert Bruce, the morning before he died, being at breakfast, 
having, as he used, eaten an egg, he said to his daughter, " I think I 
am yet hungry : you may bring me another egg. ' ' But having mused 
awhile, he said, ''Hold, daughter, hold, my Master calls me. ^' With 
these words his sight failed him : on which he palled for the Bible, 
and said, ' ' turn to the 8th chapter of the Romans and set my finger 
on the words, — ' I am persuaded that neither death nor life, etc., shall 
be able to separate me from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus 
my Lord.' " When this was done, he said, ''Now, is m.y finger upon 
them ? ' ' Being told that it was, he added, ' ' Now, God be with you, 
m^y dear children : I hive breakfasted with yju, and shall sup with 
my Lord Jesus Christ this nights And then expired. 

Addison, after a long and manly, but vain struggle with his dis- 
temper, dismissed his physicians, and with them all hopes of life. But 
with his hopes of life, he dismissed not his concern for the living, but 
sent for a youth who was nearly related, and finely accomplished. He 
came, and after a decent pause, the youth said, "Dear sir, you sent 
for me, I believe : I hope you have some commands ; I shall hold them 
most sacred " Forcibly grasping the young man's hand, he softly 
said, "See, in what peace a Christian can die ! " He spoke with diffi- 
culty, and soon expired. 

A young girl at Portsea, who had died at nine years of age, one 
day in her illness, said to her aunt, with whom she lived, "When I 
am dead, I should like Mr. Griffin to preach a sermon to children, to 
persuade them to love Jesus Christ, to obey their parents, not to tell 
lies, but to think about dying, and going to heaven. I have been 
thinking," said she, " what text I should like him to preach from, — 
2 Kings iv. 26. You are the Shunamite, Mr. G. is the prophet, and I 
am the Shunamite' s child. When I am dead, I dare say you will be 



128 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

grieved, though you need not. The prophet will come to see you, and 
when he says, ' How is it with the child ? ' ' you may say, ' It is well, ' 
I am sure it will be well with me, for I shall be in heaven, singing the 
praises of God. You ought to think it well too." Mr. G. accordingly 
fulfilled the wish of this pious child. 

Luther being once in great poverty, and a considerable sum of 
money being sent to him unexpectedly, by a nableman of Germany, 
said, ' ' I fear God will give me my reward here ; but I protest, I will not 
be so satisfied." A little will satisfy the saints during their journey, 
but it is only the enjoyment of God in heaven, that will satisfy them 
as a portion. 

A person, ' ' says Mr. Erskine, ' ' who had been at public worsliip, 
having returned home perhaps somewhat sooner than usual, was 
asked, by another of the family, who had not been there, ' Is all 
done ? ' ' No,' replied he, ' all is said, but all is not done.' " 

When a gentleman lately presented a Bible to a prisoner under 
sentence of death, he exclaimed, " Oh, sir, if I had had this book, and 
studied it, I should never have committed the crime of which I am 
convicted." So it is said of a native Irishman, when he read for the 
first time in his life, a New Testament, which a gentleman had put 
into his hands, he said, " If I believe this, it is impossible for me to re- 
main a rebel." 

Antonio Guevaza used to say, ' ' That heaven would be filled with 
such as had done good works, and hell with such as had intended to 
do them. ' ' A very suitable hint to those who put off their convic- 
tions, to what they think will be a more convenient season. 

A poor Hindoo became concerned about the forgiveness of his sins. 
His priests told him he must offer sacrifices to the idols, and that 
would atone for his sins. He did so, but the more sacrifices he offered 
to the idols, the heavier the burden of his sins became. At last one of 
them said to him, I will tell you what will take away the burden of 
your sins. You get yourself shoes made with sharp nails piercing 
through the soles, and then take a log of wood on your shoulders and 
make a pilgrimage to a distant idol, and offer a sacrifice ; that will 
surely take away your sins. He did so, for he was anxious to be re- 
lieved of the burden of his sins. But he had not gone far, before he 
had to stop, as he was exhausted by the pain and loss of blood from 
his wounded feet. But when he had regained sufficient strength he 
resumed his dreadful journey, for he was resolved to obtain the for- 
giveness of his sins, even if it cost him his life. But one day he saw a 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. I 29 

missionary in the shade of a tree and a group of people around him. 
He managed to get near enough to see and hear what was going on. 
He heard the missionary repeat his text, "The blood of Jesus Christ, 
the Son of God, cleanses us from all sin," When he heard this his 
face brightened up with faith and hope, and as the missionary farther 
explained the text, he stooped down and took off those tormenting 
shoes, threw them away, and exclaimed, " Now I know what will take 
away my sins ; it is not the blood that flows from my wounded feet ; 
O no, it is the blood of Christ that cleanses from sin. ' ' 

The Emperor Joseph II. traveled under the assumed name of The 
Duke of Falkenstein, and mingled with the common people. Some 
of the people afterwards recognized the emperor in the capital, and 
were greatly astonished. To this Oberlin remarked, " the day is com- 
ing on which Christ will no longer be the Duke of Falkenstein, but 
the Emperor, in order to reveal himself in the fullness of his glory." 

THAT I MIGHT BE HIS OWN AND SERVE HIM, ETC. 

Scriptural Examples. Martha and Mary, Luke x. 38, etc ; Barti- 
meus, Luke xviii. 43 ; Zacheus, Luke xix ; The man who was bom 
blind, John ix. 38 ; Thomas, John xi. 16 ; The penitent malefactor, 
Luke xxiii 42, 43 ; Stephen, Acts \di. 58, 59; The sinner, Luke \di. 37. 

ZinzendorfF, the founder of the Moravian Church, stopped once in 
a hotel on his journe}-, and while waiting for his dinner, being left in 
a room by himself, he saw the picture of Christ crucified hanging on 
the wall. Zinzendorff wrote these words above the picture, " This I 
did for thee," and beneath, "What wilt thou do for me ? " The fam- 
ily had been careless about religion, but when they read what had 
been written there, they were so deeply impressed that they resolved 
to begin a new life, and when Zinzendorff came again they thanked 
him, as the instrument in the hand of God, of their conversion. 

When the pious Bishop Beveridge was near his end, his memory 
had almost entirely forsaken him. A minister with whom he had 
been well acquainted, visited him, but Beveridge did not remember 
him ; another intimate friend came in and was named, but he did not 
know him. Then his wife stepped up to his bed and asked, " Do you 
know me ? " " Who are you ? " he asked. ' ' I am your wife. " "I 
know you not, ' ' he said. Now another one said, ' ' Beveridge, do you 
know the Lord Jesus Christ?" "Jesus Christ," said he, as if waked 
out of sleep, ' ' O yes, during forty years I have known him — he is my 
Savior, O blessed Savior ; thou art, and ever shalt be my Redeemer 
and my hope." 



130 ILLSUTRATED CATECHISM. 

The pious and learned Jolin Newton had nearly entirely lost his 
memory towards the close of his life, but he was accustomed to say, 
' ' If ever3rthing else should be forgotten, there are two things which I 
will never forget, namely : i. That I am a great sinner, and 2. That 
Jesus Christ is a great Savior. These two great truths are worthy of 
constant remembrance. ' ' 

A converted Indian once gave a similar repl5\ Some one asked 
him, derisively, ' ' What do you ignorant Indian know about religion ?' ' 
The Indian replied, ' ' I know two things. That I am a great sinner, 
and Christ is a great Savior. That is enough for me to know. ' ' 

A Christian sen^ant girl brought a few shillings to the benevolent' 
societies. When she was urged to retain some of the money, because 
she might need it for herself, she replied, ' ' O that is not necessary ! 
Only count up what I have saved through Christ, and what I have 
saved through Christ I must save for him." 

One who had been banished on account of his faith came to 
Luther for help. As Luther had only one Joachims Dollar in his 
house which he had saved up for a long time, he exclaimed, " Come 
out, Joachims Dollar, the Savior is here ! ' ' 

When the martyr, John Huss was led out to the stake to be burned, 
they placed a three-fold paper crown on his head, on which devils 
were painted. When Huss saw this, he said, " My Lord Jesus Christ, 
for my sake, wore a crown of thorns, why should not I for his sake 
wear this light crown, and not near as disgraceful. ' ' 

Maria Bmerentea of Gera, a lady of nobility, used to write her 
own name along side that of Jesus, whenever she found it in her 
prayer book, to signify that it was the comfort of her heart and her 
joy, to live in union with Jesus. 

When Gilbert on one occasion opened his oppressed heart to his 
friend Cramer, the latter said to him, ' ' He who has God for his Re- 
deemer and Savior should not be sad ; at least he should not remain 
so. ' ' On this he was able at once to write to one of his suffering 
friends, ' ' Comfort yourself with me, for God is love ; he is our Strength, 
our Redeemer and our Salvation. ' ' 

When Duke Henry, who introduced the Reformation into the 
cities of Dresden and Leipsie, was lying on his deathbed, (1541,) he 
was asked, whether he was willing to die in the faith of Christ ? He 
answered, ' ' I hold that I can have no better advocate than Christ. ' ' 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. I3I 

When Gabriel Schoenleben was asked during his last sickness, if 
lie was afraid of death, he answered, "No ! for death has lost its sting. 
The Lord Christ broke the sting of death. ' ' 

A little girl, only 11 years old, took sick, and there was no hope 
•of her recover}'-. But she knew and loved her Savior, and repeatedly 
called out, "O come Lord Jesus, and take me home." When her 
mother was weeping by her bedside, she said, " O mother, how happy 
am I, that I get to heaven so young." 

The djdng testimony of Prof. S, S. Schmucker, D. D., of Gettys- 
burg, Pa. , was, ' ' I have lived and I die in the faith of Jesus Christ. ' ' 

When the Emperor, Rudolph II. felt himself nearing his end, 
he was asked by his courtiers, whether he looked forward to the end of 
Ms life vnth a desire to go hence ? he replied with the hymn of Chris- 
topher Knollius, "I know of a better life," and added, "When in 
my youth I was in Spain, and my father sent a messenger to bring me 
back to my earthly home, I could not sleep that night for joy. Why 
then should I not be still more joyful when my heavenly Father calls 
me to my eternal home, which His Son has secured for me through 
his own precious blood ! " 

THE THIRD ARTICLE. 

iS^. What is the third article of the Creed ? 

1. I believe in the Holy Ghost; 

2. A Holy Christian Church, which is the commun- 
ion of saints ; 

3. The forgiveness of sins ; 

4. The resurrection of the body ; and 

5. The life everlasting. 

18^: What is meant by this article ? 

1. I believe that I cannot by my own reason or 
strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to him ; 

2. But the Holy Ghost has called me through the 
gospel, enlightened me by his gifts, and sanctified and pre- 
served me in the true faith ; 

3. In like manner as he calls, gathers, enlightens and 



132 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and pre- 
serves it in union with Jesus Christ in the true faith ; 

4. In which Christian Church he daily forgives abun- 
dantly all my sins, and the sins of all believers ; 

5. And will raise up me and all the dead, at the 
last day ; 

6. And will grant everlasting life to me, and to all 
who believe in Christ. This is most certainly true. 

186. Of whom does the third article of the Creed treat ? 
The third article of the Creed treats of the Holy Ghost. 
1 8 J. What does the third article teach in regard to the 
Holy Ghost? 

The third article of the Creed teaches that the Holy 
Ghost is true God. 

188. How do you prove that the Holy Ghost is true 
God ? 

We prove that the Holy Ghost is true God, 

1. From the divine names apphed to him ; 

Acts V. 3. But Peter said, Ananias, why Hath Satan filled thine 
heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of 
the land ? 

Acts V. 4. Whiles it remained, was it not thine own ? and after 
it was sold, was it not in thine own power ? why hast thou conceived 
this thing in thine heart ? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. 

2. From the divine attributes ascribed to him ; 

Psalm cxxxix. 7. Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? or 
whither shall I flee from thy presence ? 

I Corinthians ii. 4. And my speech and my preaching was not 
with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the 
Spirit and of power, 

3. From the divine works which he performs, such as 
a. Creation ; 

Genesis i. 2. And the earth was without form and void ; and 
darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God 
moved upon the face of the waters. 

Psalms xxxiii. 6. By the word of the Lord were the heavens 
made ; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 1 33 

b. Regeneration; 

John iii. 5. Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Kx- 
cept a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into 
the kingdom of God. 

John iii. 6. That which is bom of the flesh is flesh ; and that 
which is bom of the Spirit is spirit. 

4. From the honor bestowed upon him ; namely, that 
he is the Third Person in the Holy Trinity, proceeding from 
the Father and the Son. 

John XV. 26. But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send 
unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth 
from the Father, he shall testify of me. 

i8g. How is the Holy Ghost distinguished from the 
Father and the Son ? 

The Holy Ghost is distinguished from the Father and 
the Son, not in substance, but in person, as he 

1. Especially reveals himself; 

Matthew iii. 1 6. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straight- 
way out of the water : and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, 
and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting 
upon him. 

Matthew iii. 17. And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my 
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. 

2. Is separately named and enumerated ; 

Matthew xxviii. 19. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, bap- 
tizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost. 

1 John V. 6. This is he that came by water and blood, even 
Jesus Christ ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is 
the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. 

3. Personal attributes and works are ascribed to him, 
such as being grieved. 

Acts XX. 28. Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all 
the flock, oyer the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, 
to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own 
blood. 

2 Peter i. 21. For the prophecy came not in old time by the 
will of man : but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the 
Holy Ghost. 

zpo. What are the offices of the Holy Ghost ? 
The offices of the Holy Ghost are manifold, among; 
which may be mentioned 



134 ILLSUTRATED CATECHISM. 

1. His Teaching Office ; 

2. His Reproving Office; 

3. His Exhorting Office ; 

4. His Consoling Office. 

igi. What does the Holy Ghost do in his teaching 
office? 

By his teaching office the Holy Ghost produces within 
us a living, that is, an active knowledge of divine truth, and 
moves the will to 'the acceptance and actual exercise of true 
religion, which takes place at our calling. 

2 Timothy iii. 16. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, 
and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruc- 
tion in righteousness. 

John xiv 26. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom 
the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and 
bring all things to your remembrancCj whatsoever I have said unto 
you. 

1^2, What does the Holy Ghost do in his reproving 

office? 

By his reproving office the Holy Ghost convicts of sin 

through the clear exhibition of the truth to the conscience, 
thus producing illumination, or enlightenment. 

John xvi. 8. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of 
sin, and of lighteousness, and of judgment. 

Romans ii. 14. For when the Gentiles, wtich have not the law, 
do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the 
law, are a law unto themselves. 

Romans ii. 15. Which shew the work of the law written in their 
hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the 
meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another. 

Genesis vi. 3. And the Lord said, My Spirit shall not always 
strive with man, for that he also is flesh : yet his days shall be an 
liundred and twenty years. 

/pj. What does the Holy Ghost do in his exhorting 
office? 

By his exhorting office the Holy Ghost grants us the 
desire and ability to do good works, which he does by pro- 
ducing holy thoughts in our minds, bringing divine truth to 
our remembrance, and directing us to holy examples, by 
which means our sanctification is promoted. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 135 

Philippians ii. 13. For it is God which worketh in you both to 
will and to do of his good pleasure. 

Romans viii. 14. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, 
they are the sons of God. 

John xiv. 26. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom 
the Father will send in my name, he shall teach jou all things, and 
bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto 
you. 

7p^. What does the Holy Ghost do in his consoling 
office? 

By his consoling office the Holy Ghost strengthens 
the faithful in their sufferings by the comforting assurance 
that all things do work together for their good, and thus 
contribute to their perseverance to the end. 

Romans viil. 28, And we know that all things work together 
for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according 
to his purpose. 

2 Corinthians iv. 17. For our light affliction, which is but for a 
moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of 
glory. 

7p5. When will the completion of the offices of the 
Holy Spirit be accomplished ? 

The work of the Holy Spirit will be fully accomplished 
in the future life, 

ig6. Wherein will this complete redemption consist ? 

We are, indeed, already redeemed on earth through 
faith and in hope, but 

Romans viii. 24. For we are saved by hope ; but hope that is 
seen is not hope : for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for ? 

Hebrew xi. i. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, 
the evidence of things not seen. 

1. There we shall have been raised with glorified 
bodies, and 

2. Enter into life eternal in the church triumphant in 
heaven. 

Colossians ii. 14. Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances 
that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the 
way, nailing it to his cross. 

Revelations vii. 9. After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, 
which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and peo- 



136 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

pie, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, 
clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands ; 

Revelations vii. 10. And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salva- 
tion to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the L/amb. 

igy. What is the Holy Christian Church f 

The church is the whole body of christian believers, 
among whom the Gospel is preached in its purity, and the 
holy sacraments are administered according to the gospel. 

John X. 16. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold ; 
them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice ; and there 
shall be one fold, and one shepherd. 

I Corinthians xii. 12. For as the body is one, and hath many 
members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are 
one body : so also is Christ. 

I Corinthians xii. 13. For by one Spirit are we all baptize! into 
one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or 
free ; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. 

1^8. How may the Christian Church be divided ? 
The Christian Church may be divided mto 

1. The visible church, and 

2. The invisible church. 

igg. Who constitute the Visible Church ? 
All those who make an outward profession of the 
christian religion, constitute the visible church of Christ. 

200. Who constitute the Invisible Church of Christ ? 

Those who not only make an outward profession of 
Christianity, but who also are regenerated by the Holy 
Spirit, and lead a life of faith and obedience, are members 
of Christ's invisible and true church on earth. 

201. By what other names is the church also called? 
The church is also called 

1. The church militant, and 

2. The church triumphant. 

202. What is the church militant? 

The church militant is the church on earth, where she 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 13/ 

must contend with her foes, such as the world, the flesh 
and the devil. 

John xvi. 33. These things I have spoken unto you, that in me 
ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation : but be 
of good cheer ; I have overcome the world. 

2 Timothy iii. 12. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ 
Jesus shall suffer persecution. 

20J. What is meant by the church triumphant? 

By the church triumphant is meant all the redeemed 
saints with Christ in his kingdom of eternal glory in heaven, 
having triumphed over all their foes. 

SXPIvANATORY NOTES. 

The third article of the Creed embraces six parts, but it is usually 
divided into three sections : 

I. The Person of the Holy Ghost ; 
II. The institution in which he operates, and 
III. The gracious benefits which he distributes in the church. 

1. The Personality of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is not 
merely a power or attribute of God, but he is a real and self-existent 
person, just as the Father and the Son are. This is evident from such 
scripture passages like the following : Matt, xxviii. 19 ; Kph. iv. 30. 
The Holy Ghost proceedeth from the Father and the Son. Divine 
honor and adoration are due to him. He is called The Comforter, 
(Paraklete, that is, advocate.) He is also called the substitute of Jesus 
Christ, As such he came from heaven to earth on the day of Pente- 
cost, and founded, or ordered the Christian Church, or congregation of 
Jesus Christ. Since that day he lives and rules in this church. His 
work is sanctification, in that he enkindles faith in men and leads 
them to salvation. 

2. The Institution in which the Holy Ghost operates, is the 

Christian church. The church is also called the temple of God in 
which the Spirit dwelleth, i Cor. iii. 16, 17 ; also a habitation of God, 
through the Spirit. Bph. ii. 22. She is also called the Kingdom of 
God, and the body of Christ. 

She is eternal, and no power of hell can overcome her. Matt, 
xvi. 18. 

In this article the church is called '* The Communion of Saints," 
or the congregation of those who are called to the kingdom of grace in 
Christ. 



138 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

The churcli is visible and also invisible. She is present wherever 
the Word of God is correctly taught, and the sacraments are adminis- 
tered as they were instituted by Christ. Augsb. Conf. Art. 7. The 
church is a spiritual building. Christ is the corner stone ; her founda- 
tions are the prophets and apostles, and her walls and pillars are her 
faithful members. The unbelievers and infidels are rejected stones, 
which are thrown out. Bph. ii. 19-22. 

The attributes or names of the church. The third article of the 
Creed gives the following attributes or names of the church. 

1. She is one church ; 

2. She is a holy church ; 

3. She is a Catholic, that is, a Universal church, and 

4. She is a Christian church. 

a. It is not correct to call the different Christian denominations, 

as, the Roman Catholic, the Greek Catholic, the Lutheran 
or the Reformed, so many churches, for they are only the 
different divisions of the one church of Jesus Christ ; they 
are, as it were, different compartments in the same house, 
or different classes in the same school. They have, indeed, 
many peculiarities, but they have the chief doctrines in 
common. For example, they have, i. The same Lord God 
and Father of Jesus Christ; 2. The same Baptism in the 
name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ; 3. The same 
Bible, and the same three ecumenical confessions of faith. 

b. The church is holy, because she was founded by the Holy 

Ghost. 

c. The church is Catholic, or Universal, because she is design- 

ed for all men. 

d. The church is Christian because Christ is her head. 

But not all who are baptized are true Christians. There are many 
who are only so in name, hypocrites, and spiritually dead members. 
The Lord Jesus calls these tares amid the wheat. Matt. xiii. 24-30 ; 
fold fish. Matt. xiii. 47-50. 

The true Christians, genuine children of God, are known only to 
God. 2 Tim. ii. 19 ; i Cor. iii. 16. They are called "the believers," 
or ' * the pious, " or " the meek, " or " the righteous, " or " saints. ' ' 

They are called holy, not as though they were absolutely perfect 
and without sin, but because the Lord has sanctified them by his blood, 
and the Holy Ghost dwells within them. They are often despised by 
the worldly minded, misunderstood and derided ; but they are the 
elect of God, and heirs of his kingdom. They are scattered over the 
whole earth, among different denominations, and they are bound to- 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 1 39 

gether by the Holy Ghost into one invisible holy communion, as breth- 
ren and sisters in the Lord Jesus. Matt. xii. 49, 50. 

This is the communion of saints in which the Holy Ghost operates. 
The seed is the word , of which the Lord speaks in Luke viii. 15. 

The gracious gifts of the Holy Ghost. There are three gracious 
gifts of the Holy Ghost ; namely, 
I. The forgiveness of sins ; 
II. The resurrection of the body, and 
III. Eternal life. 

God forgives my sins, that is, he declares me free from the con- 
demnation, remits the punishment of my sins, and recieves me as his 
child and heir. 

Whose sins does the Holy Ghost forgive ? Answer, My sins, and 
the sins of all believers. Therefore, only through faith can we obtain 
the forgiveness of sins. Acts x. 45 ; Rom. iii. 23-26, 28. 

What sins are forgiven ? Answer, All sins. 

How often are they forgiven ? Answer, Daily and abundantly. 

Where are the sins forgiven ? Answer, In the whole Christian 
world, through the means of grace ; namely, the word of God and the 
sacraments. 

Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. All sins can be forgiven, 
even the blasphemy, against God the Father and the Son. Only the 
blasphemy against the Holy Ghost can not be forgiven. Matt. xii. 31 ; 
Heb. vi. 4-8 ; i John v. 16. 

Blasphemy is a known, conscious, malicious sin. An awakened 
Christian, who has the Holy Ghost dwelling in him, and yet sins de- 
signedly and presumptuously, drives the Holy Spirit away from him- 
self. Such a one can never find forgiveness, because only the Holy 
Ghost can forgive sin. He also can not therefore experience any more 
true repentance and sorrow for his sins ; but remains impudent, daring, 
hardened, hating God, and will be eternally lost. But he who mourns 
over his sins, has not blasphemed against the Holy Ghost, or commit- 
ted the unpardonable sin. 

The last things. Of the gracious gifts in the third article of the 

Creed, which the Holy Ghost will bestow upon us in the future, there 

are two; namely, i. The Resurrection of the Body, and, 2. Eternal 

Life. But these must be preceded by two other things ; namely, 

•Death and Judgment. These four future things are called the ' ' Last 

Things;" namely, i. Death; 2. Resurrection; 3. Judgment; and 4. 

Eternal Life. 

Death. Death is the separation of the body from the soul. We 

usually speak of a three-fold death : i. The Bodily Death ; 2. The 

Spiritual Death ; and 3. The Eternal Death. 



I40 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

The original design was, that man should not die, but develope 
himself without death for eternal happiness. But through sin, death, 
sickness, pain, misery and ruin have come upon the world of mankind, 
which has affected also the world of nature. Rom. viii. 20. From this 
death-ruin we are redeemed through faith in the Lord Jesus. Imme- 
diately after death the faithful enter into Paradise ; the unbelieving 
dead go to a place of torment. These places in the world of spirits are 
separated by an impassable gulf, Luke xvi. 26, as the account of 
Dives and Lazarus shows. The departed still have human forms. 
They recognize each other, they speak and have the same capacity of 
thought there, as they had here. By the permission of God, departed 
spirits can re-appear on earth. See i Sam. xxviii. 13 ; Isaiah xiv. 9 ; 
xxxii. 21. 

The doctrine of " Soul sleeping " is to be rejected. The souls of 
believers "live " in happiness with the Lord, Phil. i. 23, and the un- 
believers live in pain. Only the body sleeps in the grave. A further 
development, both in happiness and misery is probable ; also different 
degrees of glory and pain. Dan. xii. 3 ; 2 Cor. ix. 6 ; Matt. xi. 20-24. 

The torments of the wicked are internal and external, and will be 
indescribably terrible. Matt. iii. 12 ; Matt. xxv. 41, 46; Luke xvi. 24. 

The Resurrection and the Judgment. The bodies of all who have 
died will be raised from the dead. John v. 28, 29. The wicked for 
judgment, the believers to eternal life and happiness. Because the 
Lord Jesus Christ rose bodily from the dead, we also shall be raised up 
bodily. Luke xxiv. 39. Only after the resurrection of the body will 
our salvation be complete, i Cor. xv. 12-22 ; Rom. viii. 11 ; John vi. 
54 ; xi. 25, 26 ; 2 Cor. iv. 14. 

By his almighty word, and with the operation of the Holy Spirit, 
Christ will create new bodies out of our corruptible bodies. The bod- 
ies of the believers will be like the glorified body of Jesus Christ ; 
namely, they will be, i. Incorruptible ; 2. Glorious ; 3. Powerful ; 4. 
Spiritual, i Cor. xv. 42-44. The bodies of the wicked will have a 
horrible appearance, like that of the devil. Isaiah Ixvi. 24. 

Therefore there will be two kinds of resurrection ; namely, the 
resurrection of the righteous to life, and the resurrection of the wicked 
to judgment, or damnation. 

Then the wicked with the devil and all evil spirits will be driven 
into everlasting punishment, but the righteous will enter into life 
eternal. Not all men will die, but many ; namely, such as shall be 
living on earth at the coming of Christ, will be suddenly changed, as 
it is written in i Cor. xv. 51. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. I4I 

The eternal life. The last gracious gift of the Holy Ghost begins 
already here in this life ; for he who believes on the Son of God, ' ' hath 
eternal life ' ' hidden in himself. John vi. 47 ; i John v. 20 ; Col, iii. 
3, 4. But under the expression, ' ' Eternal life, ' ' properly, the Scriptures 
mean not only the new life begun in us on earth, but the blessed state 
of man's resurrection life, in which we shall be entirely redeemed from 
all evil in body, soul and spirit. Rev. vii. 15-17. Then we shall see 
God, John xvii. 24, and serve him with all the saints in holy joy, 
John xvi. 22 ; we shall dwell in the new earth and the new heaven, 
Rev. xxi. 5 ; we shall live in eternal righteousness, innocence and 
happiness, not as mere spirits or angels, but as redeemed saints, and 
serve God, being endowed with the richest bodily and spiritual gifts, 
in unspeakable joy and eternal peace. 

The Order of Salvation. The order of salvation is the order by 
which the Holy Ghost leads men to eternal bliss. It is described in 
the explanation of the third article of the Creed. Four parts belong 
to it ; namely, 

1. The Calling ; 

2. The Enlightening ; 

3. The Sanctification, and 

4. The Perseverance. 

All these four must be wrought by the Holy Ghost, if we are to be 
saved. By his own reason, and strength, and power, no one can be- 
lieve on Christ or come to him. 

The Calling. The calling means the invitation into the kingdom 
of Christ. This takes place through the voice of God in the conscience, 
and through the divine call in the dispensations of his pro"\T.dence, 
but especially by the preaching of the Gospel. 2 Tim. i. 9 ; Matt. xi. 
28, 29. Read the parable of the great marriage supper. Matt. xxii. 
11-13. The Holy Ghost wills that all men should be called, but all do 
not obey the call. 

The call, therefore, does not work irresistably. Those who ac- 
cept the call have therefore no merit in themselves before God, for it 
is all of free grace. But he who rejects the call excludes himself from 
the grace of God. Acts xiii. 46. Lydia accepted the call. Acts xvi. 
14. But Felix and Drusilla rejected the call. Acts xxi v. 25. But we 
should strive to give all men (through missions) an opportunity to 
hear this divine call, in order that they may decide for or against ac- 
cepting it. I Tim. ii. 4. God will that all should be saved. I have 
been called, through my Baptism, Instruction, the Preaching of the 
Gospel, etc. 



142 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

The Enlightening. Men are by nature darkened by sin. Kph. 
iv. i8 ; Bph. V. 8. We must become enlightened in our understand- 
ing, will and heart. This is done by the Holy Ghost. His light is 
the word of God. This word of God has two flames of light ; namely, 
the flame of the Law and the flame of the Gospel. Psalm cxix. 105 ; 
Psalm xix. 9. 

The flame of the Law shows me, i. My sins, and 2. God's wrath 
against sin. 

The flame of the Gospel shows me i. God's grace, or the Savior, 
and 2, My redemption. Now, if I permit myself to be enlightened, 
then I will be awakened to a new life. To this end the Holy Ghost 
puts his gifts into my heart ; namely, i. Repentance ; 2. Sorrow 
for sin ; 3, Change of mind ; 4. Saving faith. Saving faith is different 
from historical faith, or half faith,, or dead faith, etc. 

Saving faith requires not only assent to the truth of the Gospel, 
but a heartfelt confidence and trust ; so that we can say, ' * Jesus is 
mine and what he has done, he has done for me. ' ' 

Accordingly the repentance of Cain, Gen. iv. 13, and the repent- 
ance of Judas, Matt, xxvii.3, were false and vain, because they lacked a 
living faith. On the other hand the repentance of David, Psalm li. , of 
Peter, Matt. xxvi. 75, and of Zacchseus, Luke xix. 8, etc were of the 
right kind. Such repentance we also find described in the seven peni- 
tential Psalms vi., xxxii., xxxviii., li., cxxx., cxliii., and also 
in Luther's first thesis. Every evidence of true repentance and living 
faith we can discover in the account of the lost and returned Prodigal 
Son. Luke xv. 

The Sanctification. The Holy Ghost sanctifies me through three 
operations ; namely, i. Forgiveness of sins ; 2. Justification ; 3. New 
obedience. The Holy Ghost takes away the sinful robe of my own 
righteousness, and clothes me with the beautiful robe of Christ's in- 
nocence. Then he imputes to me the righteousness of Christ. Rom. 
V. 18, 19 ; Isaiah Ixi. 10. Read the parable of the wedding garment. 
Matt. xxii. 11-13. Thus I become righteous and acceptable to God. 
Rom. iii. 23, 24. For this reason also, I am a child and heir of God. 
Rom. viii. 17. At the same time he makes me competent to perform 
good works ; that is, I can walk in new obedience, and this is often 
called regeneration. Good works are all those which are done in 
faith. 

Perseverance in the Faith. He who would be saved must remain 
steadfast in the faith unto the end. If a man should live 60 or 80 
years in the faith and then apostatize, he would be lost. Bzekiel 
xxxiii. 12 ; Matt. xxiv. 42. Our consolation is this, that the Holy 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. I4S 

Ghost will accomplish the work which he has begun. Phil. i. 6. The 
intercession of our Great High Priest also consoles us. Heb. ix. 24. 
The following are the four stations in the order of salvation : 

1. The first (our Calling,) we have all passed ; 

2. The second (our Enlightning, ) some have attained ; 

3. The third (our Sanctification,) comparatively few have at- 
tained, and 

4. The fourth (our Perseverance,) none of us have yet attained. 
Yet all four of these stations are necessary, although the Holy 

Ghost is not bound to follow the exact succession of each of these steps. 
He can lead one man to salvation in a short time, and another man in a 
longer time. For example, the thief on the cross, and good old 
Simeon. 

ANECDOTES AND ILLUSTR A.TIONS. 

OP SANCTIFICATION. 

Scriptural Examples. The Holy Ghost came upon Saul, i Saml. 
X. 6 ; David, i Saml. xvi. 13 ; 2 Saml. xxiii. 2 ; Balaam, Num. xxiv. 2 ; 
Filled with the Holy Ghost, Elizabeth, Luke i. 41 ; Zacharias, Luke i. 
67 ; Simeon, Luke ii. 25 ; Jesus, Luke iv. i ; Acts x. 38 ; The disciples 
of the Lord, Acts ii ; Peter, Acts iv. 8 ; Stephen, Acts vii. 55 ; Paul, 
Acts xiii. 9 ; The hearers of Peter, Acts x. 44, 45 ; The Christians at 
Ephesus, Acts xix. 2 ; Compare John vii. 39. 

When Queen Christina of Sweden, left her throne and so-joumed 
in Rome to make herself acquainted with the state of religion there, 
she wrote to Bishop Burnet in England, ' ' It can not be otherwise, but 
that the church must be ruled by the Holy Ghost ; for I have now be- 
come acquainted with four popes, of whom I can swear that not one 
of them has sound common sense. ' ' 

The seed that was sown in Wurttemberg found a good soil beyoud 
that of any other German province. Prayer meetings were intro- 
duced by Spener and became the salt of the earth even to the present 
time. Albert Bengel was especially the hand of the Lord, by which 
this salt was cast abroad. On one occasion he expressed himself as 
follows : " I do not understand, why there should be opposition to 
prayer meetings. Why should each one be pious and remain by him- 
self? It is just as if people were going on a journey and I should 
advise them. Don't go together in company, but let each remain about 
a gun-shot behind the other. ' ' 

The Apostle Paul traced his conversion to God when he said, * ' It 
pleased God, who . . called me by his grace, to reveal his Son in me :" 
Gal. i. 15, 16. 



144 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

"The Spirit acts upon the mind mediately, and not immediately. 
He acts by the Word, and in the whole operation on the heart and un- 
derstanding of men there may be no contravention to the laws of our 
known philosophy. " — Dr. Chalmers. 

The Rev. William Guthrie of Fenwick, in the days of the Cove- 
nant, was once benighted on a moor, and lost his way. He let his 
horse go as he might, and by-and-by came to a farm-house. He asked 
leave to sit by the fire till morning. While there a Roman Catholic 
priest was administering extreme unction to the farmer's wife, who 
was dying. After the priest had gone, Mr. Guthrie asked the woman 
If she had peace with God. She said she had not. He then spoke to 
her of the redemption purchased by Christ, and how it was applied. 
God blessed his words, and enabled her to understand the gospel, and 
to embrace the Savior. She died triumphing in Jesus Christ. Mr. 
Guthrie departed early, and when he reached the manse said to his 
wife that he had seen a great wonder during the night. " I came to a 
farm-house, where I found a woman in a state of nature ; I saw her in 
a state of grace ; and I left her in a state of glory ! ' ' 

' ' I have had six children, ' ' said Mr. Elliot, a devoted man, ' ' and 
I bless God for his full grace that they are all either with Christ or in 
Christ." O that parents and teachers could say this of their children 
and scholars. 

' * As the graft is kept in union to the stock by means of the clay 
which has been applied by the gardner, so is the believer united to 
Christ by faith, which is the gift of God. The clay cement keeps the 
parts together, but has no virtue in itself : so faith is the means of 
union to Christ, but cannot of itself save us. When the clay is re- 
moved from the tree, the graft is found united to the stock ; so when 
faith is swallowed up in sight, then the perfect union of Christ and his 
people is seen." — Dr. J. H. Balfour. 

A house was on fire. All the inmates but one had escaped. He 
was a boy, and found the flames coming up the staircase. He ran to 
a window, and appealed to his father to save him. His father was on 
the ground, and answered him, ' ' Do not fear ; drop down, and I will 
be sure to catch you. ' ' The boy crept out and hung by his hands, 
afraid to let go. — ''Drop down, my boy," said his father. " O father, 
I cannot see you," said the boy. — "But I am here ; trust me, I will 
save you." "I am afraid, father, that I shall fall." — " Let go," cried 
the people ; ' * your father will be sure to catch you. ' ' The flames 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM 145 

were coming near. He felt that if lie remained he would be burned. 
He dropped down, and in a moment was in his father's arms. Thus 
drop into the arms of the Savior. 

A man once went to cast a stone at the Rev. George Whitefield 
while that eminent evangelist was preaching at Exeter, but lacked 
courage as soon as he heard the text. He afterwards went to Mr. 
Whitefield and said, ' ' Sir, I came to hear you this day with a view to 
break 3'our head ; but the Spirit of God, through your ministry, has 
given me a broken heart. ' ' From that day he was changed, and lived 
a believer in Christ. 

Adam would never have sought the Lord, and called, ' ' Lord, 
where art thou ? ' ' But the Lord sought him, and called, ' ' Adam 
where art thou ? ' ' 

No one can see the sun, unless it rises first and makes the day ; 
without this the brightest eyes are of no use. So the grace of God 
must alwa3's precede us, in order to make a beginning of our faith, our 
good works and our knowledge and love. 

A snow-flake remains a snow-flake, if God does not send the sun- 
light and the warm air to melt it. No truth will produce a lasting ef- 
fect unless God's Spirit impresses it on the heart. Otherwise it will be 
like pouring medicine on a stone, or singing a lovely song to a dead 
man. 

The word and the grace of God come sometimes like a star that 
rises mild and gradually up into the sky ; then again, like an arrow, 
that suddenly pierces the heart ; and again, like the refreshing rain 
that moistens the parched earth, and again, like a hammer that breaks 
the flinty rocks in pieces. 

The calls to repentance are. The public preaching of the law and 
the gospel, the still, small voice of the conscience, joy and sadness, 
danger and death, terror and deliverance, the death of a friend (Aug- 
ustine and Luther), the appearance of pious, happy Christian people, 
even in the midst of privation, persecution and suffering. Acts xvi. 
29, 30. In Matt, xxvii. 19, it was a dream ; in Matt. xxvi. 74, it was 
the crowing of the cock. 

A king in company of his queen visited the church where his 
faithful pastor preached. But in the midst of the sermon the king fell 
asleep. Suddenly he roused himself up and asked, what the preacher 
had just now said ? The queen repeated the words that had just been 
spoken in the sermon. ' ' No, ' ' said the king, ' ' the words sounded 



146 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

otherwise— the preacher said, ' The king is lost, if he does not become 
converted. ' ' ' When the queen related this expression to the pastor, 
he replied, ' ' What I would not have dared to tell the king while he 
was awake, God himself told him while he was asleep. ' ' 

There are sick people who do not know that they are sick ; there 
are sick people, who do not call a physician ; there are sick people, 
who do not take the medicine prescribed by their physician ; there are 
sick people, who althought they take the medicine, yet will not deny 
themselves of that which the physician forbids. Such people can not 
^et well. 

When any one says, I will not repent and be converted now, but I 
will do so at some future time, that is, as if the commander of a fort 
would say, I will let the enemy come in for awhile, but afterwards 
when I feel so disposed I will drive him out again. 

A scoffer once tried to embarrass a Christian Negro by sa5dng, 
** How can the Holy Ghost be at the same time in you and all around 
you? " The Negro replied, " Oh, dat is no great puzzle ; here is de 
poker ; I will hold dat in de fire till it is red hot ; den de fire is in de 
poker, and all around it. 

Some one praised a distinguished astronomer, telling him that his 
science exceeded all others in importance. The astronomer replied, 
We can indeed find the courses of the stars in the firmament of heaven, 
but of our way to heaven, we know nothing by our science. 

With many people it will be as it is with the mole which is blind 
vrhile it lives, and of which Pliny writes : ' ' Oculos incipit moriendo 
operire. ' ' That is, ' ' Only when it dies it opens its eyes. ' ' No one 
has ever regretted at the end of his life, that he became a Christian, 
but thousands have bitterly regretted at death, that they had not been 
converted. 

Bvery Christian should have the assurance of his regeneration and 
convertion, but every one can not determine the day or the hour of his 
conversion. Some, indeed, can do this ; namely, the inhabitants of 
Ninevah, Saul of Tarsus, the Prodigal Son, or such as have heard an 
impressive sermon, or been taken sick, or met with a great misfortune, 
or accident, and date their conversion from that point. But others 
were brought to Christ gradually, like Nicodemus, or like the Publi- 
can, who himself did not know how penitent and near to the kingdom 
of heaven he was. As a seed in the earth germinates and grows, as a 
child lives and steadily grows larger, stronger and more intelligent, so 
it is also with many a child of God. 



ILLUSTRATED CAIECHISM. 1 47 

Bernard says, " A Christian is like the moon ; he is either on the 
increase or the decrease.^ ^ 

With regard to preaching, the history of the church is full of illus- 
trations. God's Spirit has blessed preaching to the salvation of souls. 
Pentecost, the Reformation, the Puritan age, the great revival under 
"VVhitefield and Wesley, and the great movements under Moody and 
Sankey, are powerful testimonies to this. In every faithful ministry 
preaching has its effects. — Steel. 

A minister in Illinois offered to give any impenitent man ten dol- 
lars, who would read one chapter of the Bible on his knees, every 
morning for three months, commencing with the prayer, ' ' O God, 
send thy Holy Spirit to convict me of sin, and to lead me in the way 
of truth." It was accepted by a boastful infidel, who attempted to do 
his part. He got on well for a few days ; but then conviction fastened 
hea^dly upon him, then despair seized him. He then sent for the min- 
ister to pray for him ; and after a night's pleading he found peace. — 
Steel. 

Life of the church. As a ship in the midst of the sea goeth not 
toward the haven, unless it have a prosperous gale of w^nd, even so the 
church of God goeth not to its wished-for haven, unless it be blown 
by the Spirit of God, and directed and set on by the same Spirit. 

Need of the Spirit. In vain do the inhabitants of London go to 
their conduits (hydrants) for supplies, unless the man who has the 
master-key turns the water on ; and in vain do we think to quench our 
spiritual thirst at ordinances, unless God communicates the living 
water of his Spirit. — Salter. 

Lesson of Spiritual mindedness. If you will go to the banks of a 
little stream, and watch the flies that come to bathe in it, you will no- 
tice, that while they plunge their bodies into the water, they keep 
their wings high out of the water ; and after swimming about for a 
little while, they fly away with their wings unwet through the sunny 
air. Now, that is a lesson for us. Here we are immersed in the cares 
and business of the world ; but let us keep the wings of our souls, our 
faith and our love, out of the world, that, with these unclogged, we 
may be ready to take our flight to heaven. 

A HOI.Y CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

Scriptural Examples. Christ and Peter, Matt. xvi. 15-19 ; Peter, 
Acts xi. 1-8; XV. 7-11 ; Paul, i Cor. i. 10-13; '^^^ church prefigured 
in Noah's ark. Gen. viii. 6-8 ; Heb. xi. 7 ; i Peter iii. 20, 21 ; The 



148 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

church in Salem, Gen. xiv. 18 ; Heb. vii. 1-3 ; In Zoar, Gen. xix. 19- 
22 ; In Jerusalem, Gal. iv. 26 ; Heb. xii. 22 ; In Zion, Rom. ix. 33 ; i 
Peter ii. 6 ; Heb. xii. 22. 

The church is like the sun. She has many rays, but only one 
light ; she seems to eclipse herself, and yet she does not eclipse herself ; 
she can be covered and obscured by clouds, but she does not decrease, 
and continually breaks forth and shines again. 

The church with the confession, which Peter once made, that 
Jesus is ' ' the Christ, the Son of the living God, ' ' has always been like 
a palm tree. The more a palm tree is loaded down, the higher it 
grows, and the more fruit it bears. The church is like a diamond 
which shines the brighter the more it is ground and cut. The church 
is like the burning bush which Moses saw in the desert ; it stood in 
the midst of the flame, and yet was not consumed. The church is 
like Noah's ark ; the higher the waters of the flood rose, the nearer 
it was borne up toward heaven. 

When Frederick, the wise Elector of Saxony began to favor the 
doctrines preached by Luther, a good friend wrote to him, advising 
him not to provoke the pope to become his enemy, for he was very 
powerful. The Elector replied, Is the pope God, as some of his adher- 
ents profess ? then we do not fear him, because we try to promote the 
doctrines of God. But if he is only a man, then we have courage 
enough to defend ourselves against him. But if he is the devil we care 
not for his enmity, but would rather have him as our enemy than our 
friend, because we can not be th$ friends of Christ, without being the 
enemies of the devil. If the pope will make war upon us, then we 
have Christ upon our side, and we will gain the victory, and in life 
and death we will magnify the glory of God. Therefore we do not 
fear his enmity in any case. 

After the Augsburg Confession had been published and the oppon- 
ents of the Reformation confessed that thy could not confute it from 
the holy scriptures, the Catholic Duke of Bavaria remarked, ' ' Well 
then, the Lutherans stand on the Bible, but we Catholics stand outside 
of it." 

A minister of the Gospel, in excusing himself and his church for 
not exerting themselves to instruct and gather in the multitudes around 
them, said, * ' It is impossible for so large a church as ours, to do much 
for those out of our ' body. It takes one-third of us to watch the 
other two-thirds ! ' ' What a confession is this ! Only one in three 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 1 49 

possessing the true spirit of Christianity, and he is prevented from be- 
ing an efficient soldier of the cross by the lukewarmness and sins of 
his brethren. 

The church above and the church below. The church of Christ, 
which is partly militant and partly triumphant, resembles a city built 
on both sides of a river. There is but the stream of death between 
grace and glory. — Toplady. 

Christ's church. As the bride pertaineth to none, but to the bride- 
groom, so the church pertaineth to Christ orAy.— Caw dray. 

The church a disturber. The church was instituted to disturb 
the peace of man ; but often it does not perform its duty for fear of dis- 
turbing the peace of the church. What kind of artillery practice 
would that be, which declined to fire for fear of kicking over the gun- 
carriages, or waking up the sentinels asleep at their posts ? — Beecher. 

Enlargement of the church. As the army of heaven is innumer- 
able, and the sand of the sea immeasurable ; even so God will multi- 
ply his church. — Cawdray. 

Light of the church. As the moon doth borrow her light from the 
sun, because, of herself she has little or none at all ; even so the 
church, having no light of herself, doth take her light from the Son of 
God. — Cawdray. 

The church militant. This is the state of the church militant ; 
she is like the ark floating upon the waters, like a lily growing among 
thorns, like the bush in the desert which burned with fire, and was not 
consumed ; so the church, or city of God is always besieged, but never 
ruined.— //<?«rv Smith. 

The church a ship. As a ship upon the sea is tossed upon the 
waves from one place to another, even so is the church often tossed in 
the sea of this world, yet never drowned, because Christ is in it, and 
holdeth the helm with his '^■a.w.^. — Cawdray. 

The union of the church. As the different oceans, called by dif- 
ferent names, form one body ; so the different denominations of Christ- 
ians form one church. 

As tlie ark was made of many pieces of wood, and joined together 
in one, so the church consisteth of many members, knit together in 
one faith. — Cawdray. 

Have you ever read that strange book, ' ' The Ancient Mariners ? ' * 
I dare say you thought it one of the strangest imaginations ever put 
together, especially that part where the old mariner represents the 
corpses of the dead men rising up to man the ship— dead men pulling 



150 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

the ropes, dead men stearing, dead men spreading the sails. I thought 
what a strange idea that was. But do you know that I have lived to 
see that time ? I have seen it done. I have gone into churches, and 
I have seen a dead man in the pulpit, a dead man as deacon, and a 
dead man handling the plate, and dead men sitting in the pews. — 
Spurgeon. 

THE FORGIVENESS OF SIN. 

Luther says, I would not like to have my soul stand in my own 
hand. If my soul stood in my own hand, Satan would long ago, yea, 
in a moment, have snatched it away, as a hawk carries off a little 
chicken. But neither the devil nor any one else can tear me out of 
the hand of God. 

The brave Sir Amos Borgius, who was once a member of parlia- 
ment in Paris, was condemned to death on account of his E)vangelical 
faith. As he was led out to execution he continued in prayer, saying, 
" My God, my God, forsake me not, that I may never forsake thee." 

A missionary in the East Indies made the ' following declaration 
in his sermon : " Every one who has been born only once^ must die 
twice ; but he who has been born twice will die only once.^'' A man 
in the congregation could not comprehend these words, but afterwards 
when he had comprehended them, he could never forget them. And 
when he was born again by the power of these words, he could not 
help confessing the truth, and became a missionary himself. 

Missionary Lupoldt described in his sermon a man who tried to 
enter in at the narrow gate, with a large bundle on his back, when a 
Hindoo called out, ' ' That bundle must come down ! ' ' Yes, that is so. 

A Hindoo said, the missionaries had in their sermons a word which 
was very beautiful ; namely, the word forgiveness. 

At a banquet given by Peter Waldus, one of the guests suddenly 
fell down dead. This made such an impression on Waldus, that he 
exclaimed, ' ' What must I do to be saved ? ' ' He found the answer to 
this question in a Latin Bible, that he had in his library. 

Our church teaches, that a man is not justified by good works, but 
she teaches, that the man who has obtained the forgiveness of his sins, 
must necessarily perform good works. "It is impossible, ' ' so she 
teaches, ' ' to separate works from faith, yea, it is as impossible as it is 
to separate heat and light from fire." 

No sick man can regain his health by rising up and walking, but 
when he has recovered his health he does both himself. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. l5l 

Faith and works are related to each other like mother and daugh- 
ter ; they embrace each other and can not be separated. 

Luther says, Where there is no faith, the head has been taken off 
of good works, and all their life and goodness is worthless, just as all 
the members of the body derive their life and action from the head. 

Mark well, that you esteem the faith so highly, as if the works 
were an indifferent thing ; on the other hand, be so dilligent in works 
as if faith were an indifferent thing. Therefore St Paul puts two pas- 
sages so close together in the second chapter of the letter to the Philip- 
pians. The one is verse twelve, ' ' Work out your own salvation with 
fear and trembling." The other is verse thirteen, " For it is God who 
worketh in you to will and to do of his good pleasure. ' ' 

The late Mr. Reynolds of Bristol, being importuned by a friend to 
have his portrait painted, he at last consented, when the following 
dialogue took place : 

Q. How would you like to be painted ? 

A. Sitting among books. 

Q. Any book in particular ? 

A. The Bible. 

Q. Open at any part ? 

A. At the fifth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, the verse to 
be visible, ' ' Therefore being justified by faiths we have peace with 
God, through our Lord Jesus Christ." 

A woman, professing to be under deep conviction, went to a min- 
ister, crying aloud that she was a sinner ; but when he came to exam- 
ine her in what point, though he went over and explained all the Ten 
Commandments, she would not own that she had broken one of them. 

I BKI/IEVK IN THK RESURRECTION OF THB BODY AND THE X,IFE EVER- 

I^ASTING. 

Scriptural Examples. Job xix 25-27 ; Saints of the Old Testa- 
ment, Matt, xxvii. 52, 53 ; Christ, Matt, xxviii. 6 ; i Cor. xv. i, etc ; 
Martha, John xi. 24; Paul, Actsxxiii. 6 ; Actsxxiv. 15, 21 ; Actsxxvi. 
8 ; The Sadducees, Matt. xxii. 23, etc ; Acts xxiii. 8 ; The Epicureans 
and Stoicks, Acts xvii. 18 ; Some of the Corinthians, i Cor. xv. 12 ; 
Paul, Phil. i. 21, 23 ; The thief on the cross, Luke xxiii. 43 ; Lazarus, 
Lnke xvi. 22 ; Stephen, Acts vii. 58, 59 ; Dives, Luke xvi. 22-31 ; Judas, 
Acts i. 25. 

When St. Bernard lay in his last sickness, his brethren prayed to 
God for him. But he said, ' ' Why will you detain a poor sinner any 
longer on earth ? Have pity on me and let me go to the Father. ' ' 



152 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

When Frances I. was taken prisoner by Charles V. at Pavia, he 
wrote on the door of his prison, ' ' To-day me, to-morrow thee. ' ' 
Charles wrote beneath, " I am a man, and I believe that every thing 
human may befall me. ' ' 

A mother who had lost three children by death, was asked, how 
many children she had, replied, ' ' Six, three are with me, three are 
with God." 

When CBcolampadius, the Swiss Reformer was near to his end, a 
friend visited him to inquire about his condition, CE^colampadius asked 
him, "What is the news?" "Nothing," said his friend. "Well, 
then," said he, " I will tell you the news : I wdl soon be with Christy 
my Lord.^' 

When Cing-Mars was condemned to death, on account of a con- 
spiracy against Lewis XIV. , he was asked by the minister, whether he 
was afraid of death, and replied, ' ' No ; the only thing I fear, is my 
sins. ' ' 

When Francis Von Sickingen was lying on his death bed, the 
Elector of Trier and the Duke of Hessen stepped in and reproached 
him for the war which he had waged against them. His only reply 
was, ' ' I have now to render an account to a greater Master. ' ' 

Valerius Herberger wrote in his book, The Heavenly Jerusalem^ 
I once knew a remarkable preacher who had singular ideas. When 
he spoke of the life in heaven, he said, * ' When the learned men use 
their greatest art in describing the heavenly blessedness, they appear 
to me like children, who are playing in the sand and think that the 
mud-bake-oven, which they have made, is a grand building. Or they 
appear to me like children when they talk of great kings and mon- 
archs. Or like children who havie put on their grandfather's shoes 
and think they fit them admirably, as they scrape about in the room. ' ' 

When Colonel Von Manstein learned to know a man, who did not 
believe in a future life, he said, Surely, this man lives like a brute, be- 
cause he believes that he will remain on the earth like a brute. 

When the oath of allegiance was rendered to Charles V. at Ghent, 
a prize question was given out ; namely, ' ' What is the best and great- 
est consolation of a Christian ? ' ' To solve this question many came 
from different places, who presented their ingenious answers on the oc- 
casion. But those from Altdorf gave this answer : ' ' The resurrection 
is the best consolation. ' ' Therefore they represented the sufferings, 
death and resurrection of Christ, upon which our own resurrection is 
founded, and the prize was awarded to the Altdorfers. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. I 53 

A sceptic once exclaimed, ' ' O you fools, who believe in a resur- 
rection of the dead ! Do you not see that the living die ? How then 
can you believe that the dead shall live ? ' ' But some one answered 
him, ' ' O you simpleton ! Do you not believe in the creation ? Well, 
if something lives that had never existed, why can not that which once 
lived, live again ? ' ' 

Methodius, the missionary among the Sklaves, carried a painting 
about with him, on which the last judgment was represented. This 
made such an impression on the heathen chief of the Bulgarians, that 
he immediately professed Christianity and was baptized. 

Gregory, the great, relates, that, Chrysaurus, an ungodly noble- 
man, saw on his deathbed the awaiting hellish spirits in terrible as- 
pect around him, and therefore exclaimed in agonizing tones, ' ' O 
time, only till morning ! Give me time till morning ! ' ' 

A young Russian nobleman availed himself of every opportunity 
to express derisively his doubts about eternal hell punishment. An 
unassuming pious man once said to him, "Well, now, but if there 
should after all be an eternal damnation ? Mark j^ou. If there should 
be an eternal damnation ? Have you ever thought about this ? How 
is it ? What do you say to this ? ' ' The man began to tremble through 
his whole body, fell from his chair, and exclaimed, "Woe is me, I am 
going to ruin ! ' ' Afterwards an entire change came over him, so that 
he had no more need to dread the eternal hell-punishment. 

On the day of his death, John Saunders stretched his right hand 
towards heaven and exclaimed, ' ' Lord, do I belong to these ? ' ' Matt. 
XXV. 23. Then he stretched out his left hand, and said, "According 
to justice I belong to these ; it is only by free grace that I can be 
saved. ' ' 

The Negroes in South America once had. a discussion about the 
judgment day. Some said, ' * Then we will hide ourselves in the 
bushes." Others said, " We will take our own lives." To this Ara- 
bini, the first convert among them, replied, ' ' God will easily find 
means to find you all. " " But when there are so many of us who do 
not believe on him, ' ' replied the Negroes, ' ' the punishment will not 
be so severe. ' ' To this Arabini replied, ' ' Well, then, all of you come 
and put your fingers into the fire, and we will see, whether each one 
of you does not feel the pain just as keenly, as if he were the only one. " 
Silently they all departed. 

The soul is in the body like a lamp in a lantern. When you take 
the lamp out of the lantern the light is not thereby extinguished ; on 
the contrary it shines more brightly now than before. 



154 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

In your own body you have a demonstration of the resurrection. 
Some time ago you were laid up with sickness, you lost your flesh and 
strength ; but through the mercy of God you regained your blooming 
health, and strength. In all this you did not see how your flesh van- 
ished away, nor how it returned. 

Mr, Moffet was preaching on the resurrection, when Macoba, a 
notorious chief, cried out, ' ' What are those words about the dead ? — 
the dead arise ? " "Yes," said the missionary, "all the dead shall 
rise. " — " Will my father arise ? " — " Yes, ' ' answered the missionary. 
' ' Will all the slain in battle arise ? " " Yes, ' ' answered the mission- 
ary. * ' Will all that have been killed and eaten by lions, tigers, and 
crocodiles arise?" — "Yes, and come to judgment." "Hark," 
shouted the chief, turning to the warriors, ' ' Ye wise men, did your 
ears ever hear such strange and unheard of news ? Did you ever hear 
such news as this ? ' ' turning to an old man, the wise man of the tribe. 
* ' Never, ' ' answered the old man. The chief then turned to the mis- 
sionary, and said, " Father, I love you much, but the words of a resur- 
rection are too good for me. I do not wish to hear about the dead 
rising again. The dead can not rise ; the dead shall not rise ! " " Tell 
me my friend, why not, ' ' said the missionary. * ' I have slain my 
thousands ; shall they arise ? ' ' 

LOVE FOR THE CHURCH. 

I love Thy Zion, Lord ! 

The house of Thine abode ; 
The Church, O blest Redeemer, saved 

With Thine own precious blood. 

I love Thy Church, O God ! 

Her walls before Thee stand, 
Dear as- the apple of Thine eye, 

And graven on Thy hand. 

If e'er to bless Thy sons 

My voice or hands deny. 
These hands let useful skill forsake, 

This voice in silence die. 

If e'er my heart forget 

Her welfare or her woe, 
Let ev'ry joy this heart forsake. 

And ev'ry grief o'erflow. 

For her my tears shall fall ; 

For her my prayers ascend ; 
To her my cares and toils be given, 

Till toils and cares shall end. 



ILLUSTRATED CAIECHISM. I 55 



PART III. 

THE LORD'S PRAYER. 

This prayer is very often repeated by both young 
and old people, but frequently merely mechanically without 
serious impressions as to the meaning of the words. In 
that case it is only a lip service, but not a heartfelt prayer. 
Such a prayer cannot be acceptable to God, nor be answered 
from the Throne of Grace, 

20/j., What is Prayer ? 

In general, prayer is a conversation of the heart with 
God, uttered or unexpressed. 

20^. How shotild prayer be offered? 

Prayer should be offered 

1. In the name of Jesus, that is, in accordance with 
his command and promises ; 

2. In true faith on him ; 

John xvi. 23. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye 
shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. 

3. In sincere devotion; 

4. At all times we should direct our hearts to God; 

5. Which is done, when, besides the verbal prayer, 
we do everything as in the conscious presence of God. 

Genesis xvii. i. And when Abram was ninety years old and 
nine, the Lord appeared to Abraii, and said unto him, I am the Al- 
mighty God ; walk before me and be thou perfect. 

206. What is the design of prayer ? 

The design of prayer is 

I. The glorification of God's name ; 



156 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

2. The securing of the blessings invoked for ourselves 
and others. 

I Timothy ii. i. I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplica- 
tions, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all 
men. 

2oy. Why is this particular prayer called '^ The Lord' s 

Prayer f " 

It is so called, because at the request of his disciples, 
the Lord Jesus taught them this prayer, saying " After this 
manner ye shall pray y 

Luke xi. I. And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a 
certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, 
Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. 

I/uke si. 2. And he said unto them. When ye pray, say. Our 
Father which art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom 
come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. 

Ivuke xi. 3. Give us day by day our daily bread. 

Luke xi. 4. And forgive us our sins ; for we also forgive every 
one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation ; but 
deliver us from evil. 

Matthew vi. 9. After this manner therefore pray ye : Our 
Father which art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name. 

Matthew vi. 10. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, 
as it is in heaven. 

Matthew vi. 11. Give us this day our daily bread. 

Matthew vi 12. And forgive us our debts as we forgive our 
debtors. 

Matthew vi. 13. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us 
from evil : For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, 
forever. Amen. 

208. How is the Lord's Prayer divided? 

The Lord's Prayer is divided into 

1. The introduction ; 

2. Seven Petitions, and 

3. The conclusion. 

20<^. What is the import of these seven petitions in the 
Lord's Prayer ? 

Of the seven petitions, 

1. The three first relate to the glory of God, and at 
the same time the salvation of our souls ; 

2. The remaining four relate immediately to our own 
welfare ; 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 1 57 

3. In the four first petitions we pray for the good 
things we need, and in the last three we pray for deliver- 
ance from the evil that we fear ; 

4. The first three petitions invoke spiritual, and the 
third bodily blessings. 

PRAYER IN GENERAL. 

Scriptural Examples, i. To whom should we pray? Christ, 
Matt, iv. 10 ; Peter and Cornelius, Acts x. 25, 26 ; John and the angel, 
Rev. xix. 10 ; xxii. 8, 9. 

2. For what should we praj' ? Isaac prays for his descendents. 
Gen. XXV. 21 ; Elijah prays for death, i Kings xix. 4 ; Blisha prays for 
victory, 2 Kings vi. 18'; Hezekiah prays for recovery from sickness, 
Isaiah xxxvii. 15 ; Solomon prays for wisdom, i Kings iii. 9, etc ; David, 
2 Sam. xxiv. 10; Manasseh, 2 Chron. xxxiii. 12 ; The Publican prayed 
for the forgiveness of his sins, Luke xviii. 13. 

3. How should we pray ? With reverence, Abraham, Gen. xviii. 
27 ; Daniel ix. 18 ; With resignation, David, 2 Sam, xv. 26 ; Christ, 
Matt, xxvi. 39 ; Earnestly, Jacob, Gen. xxxii. 24 ; Elijah, James v ; 
xvi. 15-18. 

4. When should we pray ? David, Psalm Ixiii. 4 ; Daniel vi. 10 ; 
Jesus prayed before his baptism, lyuke iii. 21 ; Alone, Mark xiv. 35 ; 
In the presence of his disciples, Luke ix. 28 ; At his meals. Matt, xiv. 
19 ; In the night, Luke vi. 12 ; Under the open heavens, Luke x. 21 ; 
During his sufferings, Matt. xxvi. 39. 

5. Intercessory prayer, Abraham for Sodom, Gen. xviii. 23-33 ; 
Moses for Pharaoh, Ex. viii. 12, 3Q ; For Israel, Ex. xxxii. 11 ; Job for 
his children. Job i. 5 ; Daniel for Jerusalem, ix. 16 ; Habakkuk for the 
afflicted ones, iii ; Christ for his believers, John xvii. 9 ; For Peter 
and the other disciples, Luke xxii. 32 ; For his murderers, Luke xxiii. 
34 ; Stephen for his murderers, Acts vii. 58 ; Paul for Israel, Rom. x. i. 

KXPIvANATORY NOTES. 

Prayer is an offering up of our desires to God, for things agreeable 
to his will, in the name of Christ, with confession of our sins, and 
thankful acknowledgement of his mercies. — Shorter Catechism. 

Prayer is a conversation of the heart with God, Psalm xix. 12. — 
Ernst Muehe. 

I. Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God. 

1. God is the only object of worship : Matt. iv. 10. 

2. He only can hear and answer prayer : i Kings viii. 39. 



153 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

3. Prayer is more of the heart than the lips : Ps. Ixii. 8 ; Matt. 
XV. 8. 
II. Prayer must be offered for things agreeable to the will of God : 
I John V. 14. The promises are God's will, and may be pleaded. 
His will is best for our souls. 

III. Prayer must be offered in the name of Christ. He himself has 

taught this : John xiv. 13. He is our Propitiation for sin : i 
John ii. 2. He is also our Intercessor : i John ii. i. This is a 
very great privilege in prayer. 

IV. Prayer must be accompanied by the confession of sin : Dan. ix. 

4. This acknowledges our true state, as sinners by nature and 
by practice, and our un worthiness of God's blessing ; and it 
also honors him as the righteous Lord. "If we confess our 
sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins : " i John i. 9. 
This is exemplified in the case of David : Ps. xxxii. 
V. Prayer must be accompanied with thanksgiving. Bvery favor 
of God deserves thanks. His mercy towards sinners especially 
calls for gratitude. 

1.ESSONS. 

1 . Prayer is a becoming duty of all. 

2. It is the cry of children to their Father in heaven. 

3. A prayerless soul is a Christless soul, and a Christless soul is a 
graceless soul, and a graceless soul is a hopeless soul — Steel. 

The privilege of praying to God is one of the greatest benefits. 
By this we realize that the providence of God does not depend upon 
an unchangeable fate. God is, indeed, unchangeable in his being, 
but he is not unchangeable in his ways. This is evident from the in- 
teresting account of Hezekiah's sickness and recovery. Isaiah xxxviii. 

Where shall we pray ? Every where. When shall we pray ? At 
all times, i Thess v. 17. In what posture shall we pray? We may 
pray in any posture. Psalm xcv. 6. The saints of the Old Tes- 
tament raised their hands towards heaven ; we fold our hands. The 
main point is how and what we pray ? According to the nature, the 
contents, and the time, prayer is divided into prayers of Petition, Pen- 
itence, Praise and Thanksgiving, Intercession, Morning and Bvening, 
and Table Prayers. 

ANECDOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Amyntor, at a memorable period of his life, was under great dis- 
tress of conscience , and harrassed by violent temptations. He made 
his case known to an experienced friend, who said, ' ' Amyntor, you do 
not pray. ' ' Surprised at this, he replied, ' ' I pray, if such a thing be 
possible, too much . I can hardly tell how many times in a day I bow 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 159 

my knee to God ; almost to the omission of my other duties, and the 
neglect of my necessary studies. " " You mistake my meaning, dear 
Amyntor, I do not refer you to the ceremony of the knee, but the de- 
votion of the heart, which neglects not any business, but intermingles 
prayer with all ; which in every place looks unto the Lord ; and on 
every occasion lifts up an indigent, longing soul, for the supply of his 
grace. This," added he, and spoke with peculiar force, '''■ this \& 
prayer, which all the devils in hell cannot withstand. ' ' 

A poor man once came to a pious minister, and said, ' ' Mr. Carter, 
what will become of me ? I work hard, and fare hard, and yet I can- 
not thrive. ' ' Mr. Carter answered, ' ' Still you want one thing ; I will 
tell you what you shall do : Work hard, and fare hard, and pray hard ; 
and I will warrant you shall thrive. ' ' 

Dr. Johnson once reproved the Rev. Dr. Maxwell for saying grace 
in his presence without mentioning the name of our Lord Jesus Christ ; 
and hoped he would be more mindful in future of his apostolical in- 
junction. A seasonable hint to many. 

A Hottentot of immoral character, being under deep conviction 
of sin, was anxious to know how to pray. He went to his master, a 
Dutchman, to consult with him ; but his master gave him no encour- 
agement. A sense of his own wickedness increased, and he had no 
one near him to direct him. Occasionally, however, he was admitted 
with the family at the time of ptayer. The portion of Scripture which 
was one day read by the master, was the parable of the Pharisee and 
the Publican. While the prayer of the Pharisee was read, the poor 
Hottentot thought within himself, ' ' This is a good man ; there is 
nothing for me ; ' ' but when his master came to the prayer of the Pub- 
lican—God be merciful to me a sinner — he cried, " This suits me ; now 
I know how to pray ! ' ' With this prayer he immediately retired, and 
prayed night and day for two days, and then found peace. Full of joy 
and gratitude, he went into the fields, and, as he had no one to whom 
he could speak, he exclaimed, ' ' Ye hills, ye rocks, ye trees, ye rivers^ 
hear what God has done for my soul ! he has been merciful to me a 
sinner ! " 

The mother of a little boy about six years of age, some time ago 
went in search of a house, taking her son along with her. Having 
taken one of but a single apartment, the boy, on their way home, 
burst into tears. His mother inquired why he was weeping ; ' ' Because 
you have taken that house, ' ' said the child. ' ' My dear, ' ' replied^^the 



l60 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

mother, * ' is not that a better house than the one we at present oc- 
cupy ? " " Yes, ' ' said the little boy, sobbing, ' ' but there is no closet 
for prayer in it. ' ' How fcw, when taking houses, look for such con- 
veniences ! 

Rowland Hill was once driven by a storm into a village inn, and 
compelled to stay the night. When it grew late, the landlord sent a 
request by the waiter mat the guest would go to bed. Mr. Hill re- 
plied, ' ' I have been waiting a long time expecting to be called to fam- 
ily prayer. " " F^xinily prayer ! ' ' exclaimed the astonished waiter ; 
"I don't know what you mean, sir ; we never have such things here." 
* ' Indeed ! then tell your master I cannot go to bed until we have had 
family prayer. ' ' The waiter informed his mastei', who, in consterna- 
tion, bounded into the room occupied by the faithful minister and 
said, ' ' Sir, I wish you would go to bed. I cannot go until I have 
seen all the lights out ; I am so afraid of fire. " "So am I, ' ' was the 
reply ; ' * but I have been expecting every minute to be summoned to 
family worship. " " All very good, sir ; but it cannot be done at an 
inn. " " Indeed ! Then pray get me my horse. I cannot sleep in a 
house where there is no family prayer. ' ' The host preferred to dis- 
miss his prejudices rather than his guest, and said, " I have no objec- 
tion to have prayer, but I don't know how." " Well, then, summon 
your people, and let us see what can be done." The landlord obeyed, 
and in a few moments the astonished domestics were upon their knees, 
and the landlord was called upon to pray. ' ' Sir, I never prayed in 
my life ; I don't know how." " Ask God to teach you," was the gen- 
tle reply. The landlord folded his hands and said, ' ' God, teach us 
how to pray." "That is prayer, my friend," said Mr. Hill, joyfully, 
"go on." " I am sure I don't know what to say now, sir." "Yes, 
you do ; God has taught you how to pray — now thank him for it. ' ' 
* ' Thank you, God Almighty, for letting us pray to you ! " " Amen ! 
amen!" exclaimed Mr. Hill, and then prayed himself. Two years 
afterwards Mr. Hill found in that village a chapel and school — the re- 
sult of the first effort of family prayer at the ' ' Black Lion. ' ' 

" Prayer," says the hymn, " is the soul's sincere desire, uttered or 
unexpressed. ' ' Phillips Brooks' definition is still better : ' ' Prayer is 
a true wish sent God ward. ' ' The one who prays finds it to his advan- 
tage to put his petitions into words and whispers, but so far as the 
Hearer of prayer is concerned, words are unnecessary. Mutes are 
heard by God as well as those who say their prayers. 

Prayer is the daughter of faith, but the daughter must support the 
mother. — Ger, Proverb. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM l6l 

Prayers answered. In the year 1812 Napoleon invaded Russia. 
Alexander, the Emperor of Russia, commanded that in his whole em- 
pire pra3-ers should be offered for the aversion of the impendent dan- 
ger. The people arose as one man and prayed to God for deliverance. 
When Napoleon heard of these prayers against him, he said, "It seems 
they want to overcome me with prayers. But between the emperor of 
Russia and me, nothing but bayonets can decide. With my 500,000 
warriors I will march on to Moscow and reduce their prayers to con- 
tempt. ' ' But how God heard and answered those prayers and humbled 
Napoleon's pride is well known. 

Luther's jrayer for Melanchton. Melanchton was lying, as was 
supposed, on his deathbed in the year 1540 at Weimar. Luther was 
sent for to come immediately. He came without delay and was 
alarmed to find his friend unconscious, his sight, his hearing gone, and 
his face pale like that of a corpse. God forbid, he cried out. Then 
he stepped to the window and praj^ed most earnestly to God. Then he 
grasped the hand of his friend and called loudly into his ear, Be of 
good comfort Philip, you will not die ; I have besieged our Lord God, 
and have held up to him all his-promises for the answering of prayer, 
that I knew of in the holy Scriptures, so that he must hear and answer 
me. Melanchton awoke as it were from the sleep of death, he began 
again to draw breath, new life began to course through his veins, and 
he recovered his health. Melanchton said afterwards, " I would have 
died, if Luther, by his interceding prayer, had not snatched me from 
the jaws of death. ' ' 

The prayer s of Monika. The church father Augustine (t.430) lived 
in his youth without God and repentance. His pious mother, Monika, 
prayed incessantly with tears to God, for the conversion of her son. 
She wept more, says Augustine himself, over her unconverted son, than 
other mothers mourn over the bodily death of their children. A 
bishop once said to her, " Be of good cheer, Monika, a son of so many 
tears and prayers can not be lost. ' ' And during twelve years she had 
prayed for her son, when her prayer was answered ; her son was con- 
verted, and the pious mother praised the grace of God. Her desire for 
this world was fulfilled. 

Scriver's mother. Pastor Scriver of Rendsburg relates the follow- 
ing of his pious mother : "I often heard my dear mother pray early in 
the morning, before we children were up. She used to pray in a loud 
voice for her children, one after the other. I remember when she 
came to pray for me that she begged God most heartily and earnestly, - 
that he would endow me with understanding, and knowledge, and 



1 62 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

wisdom, bless me in my studies, preserve mie from the power of the 
devil and a wicked world, and make me an instrument through his 
grace, in promoting his glory, and bringing many souls to Christ, and 
finally make me forever blessed and happy, ' ' The prayers of this 
pious mother have indeed been abundantly answered, and the edifying 
writings of this good man are still read with great profit. 

Prayer records. The pious Spener had his own list of persons for 
whom he prayed particularly. Those who knew this, often asked him 
for his intercessory prayers, just as the people had asked Samuel. 
Count Zinzendorf, the founder of the Moravian church had adopted 
the same plan. 

lyuther says, the best occupation of a Christian is prayer. 

When man ceases to speak with heaven, then hell begins to speak 
with him. — Ger. Proverb. 

It is well to select special hours for prayer, as king David did. 
Evening, morning, and at noon will I pray and call aloud. Psalm Iv. 
17. Daniel kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed and 
gave thanks before God. Dan. vi. 10. . 

To some, who in the ways of the world, had no family prayers, 
and excused themselves by saying, that it was enough to pray in their 
thoughts, Dr. Schurff replied, that it was against the command of 
Christ, who said, When ye pray, say, Luke xi. 2. 

In Bunslou, a country man attended a wedding where there was 
a large company of gay and worldly people. At the table before eat- 
ing he offered a silent prayer. On this, one of the guests said, scoff- 
ingly, "I suppose in your house all pray." "Not all," said the 
country man, ' * in the dwelling house they all do ; but I have a sow 
and her pigs in my stable, who never pray, when they come to the 
trough." 

Themistocles was driven into exile by his own ungrateful people. 
He knew not whither to flee, except to king Admet, who was also his de- 
clared enemy. As he was in danger of death also from the king, he took 
the king's young son, whom he found in the entrance to the palace, in 
his arms, and said, ' ' King Admet, I come in the name of this child 
whom you love, and pray for mercy. For the sake of your own son, 
grant me protection against mine own ungrateful people. ' ' By this 
means he softened the heart of the king, and obtained the promise of 
protection. Therefore we pray to God the Father in the name of 
Christ, his Son whom he loveth so much that for his sake he can not 
in time or eternity deny us anything that he sees good for us. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 1 63 

The sainted Waltersdorf was asked by some distinguished noble- 
men, whether it was proper to ask a blessing at the table when there 
was a large assembly present ? He replied, I will not decide this ques- 
tion, but I remember seeing in Pomerania among the peasants, (farm- 
ers,) a picture on which were painted cattle and horses in a stable at 
the manger with these words inscribed : 

' * Wer ungebetet zu Tische geht, 
Und ungebetet vom Tisch aufsteht, 
Der ist dem Rind und Bselein gleich, 
Und hat nicht Theil am Himmelreich. ' ' 

"Which may be rendered into English thus : 

Who goes to the table and does not pray, 
And without prayer from the table goes away. 
Makes himself with cattle and horses even, 
And has no part in the kingdom of heaven. 

How God answers prayer. God always answers our prayers, 
when we pray aright and for what is good, but not always in the 
same way. He answers outwardly or inwardly, or in both ways to- 
gether. When he sends us visible help, so that we ourselves and oth- 
ers can see that God has answered our prayers, then he answers out- 
wardly. When after our prayer, the heart feels lighter, or a comfort- 
ing word from the Bible, or a happy thought comes into our mind, 
then he answers inwardly. Sometimes consolation and help come to- 
gether, then he answers inwardly and outwardly at the same time. 

A man had become impatient on account of his troubles, and said. 
There will be no end of these troubles, prayers are useless and God 
does not help us. To him Livius Fink replied, ' ' How can God hear 
our prayers instantly, when we, on account of wandering thoughts, 
often do not hear ourselves when we pray. ' ' 

Luther says. If it is to be a proper prayer, then it should be in 
this wise, that we havej^ze' words, but many and deep meanings and 
imports. Few words and deep meaning is Christian ; many words and 
little meaning is heathenish. 

Prayer is the soul's sincere desire. 

Uttered or unexpressed ; 
The motion of a hidden fire, 

That trembles in the breast. 
Read or sing the whole hymn. 



164 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

A soldier who was mortally wounded, and so near to death that he 
could no more pray audibly, but could simply repeat these few words, 
' ' Lord, I have already told thee all before. ' ' 

THK I^ORD'S prayer IN PARTlCUI^AR. 

Q. What rule hath God given for our direction in prayer ? 

A. The whole word of God is of use to direct us in prayer ; but 
the special rule of direction is that form of prayer, which Christ taught 
his disciples, commonly called The Lord' s Prayer. — Shorter Catechism. 

KXPI.ANATORY NOTKS. 

I. We need a rule to direct us in prayer. God is so great and glor- 
ious, we know not how to approach him : Kccles. v. 2 . We are 
so guilty, so sinful, that we need to be invited to engage in 
prayer, and taught how to do so : Hosea xiv. 2 ; Matt. vi. 9 ; 

Luke xviii. 13. 
II. The rule given to direct us. 

1. The whole Word of God is of use in this. It is the revelation 

of God's will. It contains promises and encouragements. It 
is full of examples of prayer : Ps. xli ; Dan. ix. 

2. The Lord's Prayer. This was taught the disciples by Christ 

himself when they asked for guidance. It is a pattern, not a 
liturgy. The apostles prayed freely, as Acts i. 24, 25 ; iv. 

24-30. 

3. This prayer consists of three parts. Preface, Petitions, Doxology. 

1.BSSONS. 

1. God's great goodness in teaching us how to pray. 

2. The Holy Spirit is promised to aid us. 

3. The sin of neglecting to pray. — Steel. 

The Lord's Prayer is the most beautiful, the most perfect prayer ; 
it is a model for all other prayers. It contains seven short prayers 
combined into one prayer. The first three have reference to God's 
glory ; the last four have reference to our wants. In these seven peti- 
tions all possible prayers are contained, just as in the Ten Command- 
ments all other commands of God are embraced. It is usually divided 
into the i. Introduction, 2. The three first petitions, 3. The three last 
petitions, and 4. The Conclusion, or Doxology. In each one of these 
four parts the three persons in the Godhead can be recognized. It 
may yet be remarked, that in six petitions we pray for heavenly and 
only in one we pray for earthly blessings. Therefore we should pray 
comparatively six times for eternal and once for temporal blessings. 
The Lord's Prayer occurs twice in the Bible : Matt. vi. 9-13, and Luke 
xi. 1-4. Luke omits the Conclusion or Doxology. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. l6$ 

ANECDOTES ON THE LORD'S PRAYER IN GENERAL. 

The widow of Dr. Krapp, Prof, in Wittenberg, was in the habit of 
dividing the seven petitions of the Lord's Prayer among the days of 
the week, one petition for each day, and thus making each petition 
successively the basis of her prayers. One of the students came to 
Luther and asked directions how to pray. Luther Replied, ' ' Go to 
Mrs. Dr. Krapp ; she can teach you better than any of us professors ; 
she requires a whole week for the Lord's Prayer." 

Luther's Commentary on the Lord's prayer was translated into 
the Italian. A distinguished divine in Italy, who did not know that 
Luther was the author of it, declared, in reference to it : " Blessed are 
he hands that wrote this book ! Blessed are the eyes that shall read it ! 
And blessed are the hearts that pray in this manner ! ' ' 

The Lord^s Prayer was Archbishop Leighton's favorite prayer. 
*' O," said he, "the spirit of this prayer would produce the most emi- 
nent Christians. ' ' 

"I once," said Mr. Romaine, "uttered the Lord's Prayer without 
a wandering thought, and it was the worst prayer I ever offered. I 
was on this account as proud as the devil. ' ' 

A cabinet maker in a German village was attacked by robbers at 
night, his house was plundered, and he himself terribly maltreated. 
The minister who visited him, found him near to death's door, and in- 
formed him of his situation. But the sick man grappled with despair. 
* ' God cannot permit this, ' ' he cried ; ' ' robbed of all my property^ 
must I in addition lose my life, and leave my wife and children in 
poverty ? It is impossible," etc. The impatience of the sick man still 
increased, notwithstanding all the exhortations to the contrary. In 
this perplexity the minister was reminded of the advice, which his 
sainted preceptor. Prof. Karcher, of Jena, had once given him. ' ' If 
ever," said he, "you are perplexed in the discharge of your office, and 
unable to determine what to do, then pray the Lord's Prayer with a 
particular application of each petition to the difficulty in hand, and 
you will see what a divine power is contained in this prayer. ' ' The 
minister followed this advice, dwelling upon and paraphrasing each 
petition, so as to apply it to the case before him. When he had ended, 
the dying man felt encouraged and exclaimed : ' ' Now I will gladly 
die ; God has heard my prayer, and for Christ's sake has graciously ac- 
cepted me ; now I can die happy. ' ' He invoked the blessing of 
Heaven upon the minister, who administered the communion to him, 
and soon after he fell asleep in Jesus. 



l66 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

The prayer of all prayers is the Lord's Prayer. But says I/Uther, 
Many repeat the Lord's Prayer, perhaps several thousand times a year, 
and if they continued to pray as they do, they would not have tasted, 
or prayed a letter or tittle of it. 

THE INTRODUCTION. 

210. What is the Introduction to the Lord's Prayer f 
" Our Father, who art in Heaven." 

211. What does our Savior teach us in this preface f 

The Savior teaches' us that God would affectionately 
invite us to believe, and to be assured, that he is truly our 
Father, and that we are his children indeed ; and therefore 
we should call upon him with all cheerfulness and confi- 
dence, even as beloved children entreat a kind and affection- 
ate parent. 

212. What is meant by the word ^'Father'' in the 
Lord's Prayer ? 

By this name the Triune God is called, because we 
have received from him, not only 

1. Our bodily life ; 

Acts xvii. 26. And hath made of one blood all nations of men 
for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the 
times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation. 

Acts xvii. 27. That they should seek the Lord, if haply they 
might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every 
one of us. 

Acts xvii. 28. For in him we live, and move, and have our be- 
ing ; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we also are his 
offspring. 

2. But also our spiritual life, and 

3. Our preservation, 

James i. 17. Kvery good gift and every perfect gift is from above, 
and Cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no varia- 
bleness, neither shadow of turning. 

4. And we also enjoy his paternal love. 

Psalms ciii. 13, lyike as a father pitieth his children, so the I/Ord 
pitieth them that fear him. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 



167 



2 1 J. Why do we say " Our Father? " 

We say Our Father, because God is kind to all men, 
both good and bad, and wishes to be worshiped by all. 

2 1 /J.. In what respect is God Our Father ? 

God is our Father by creation and preservation, but 
still more by regeneration and adoption. 

21^. Why do we say " Who art in heaven f " 

We say Our Father, who art in heaven, to express our 
sense of his majesty and omnipresence, and to direct our 
thoughts and hearts to heaven. 

. 216. Of what should the words ^' its'" and '^ our^^ in 
this prayer remind us f 

Wherever the words "^/.y" or ''our'"' occur in the 
Lord's Prayer, it should remind us that we ought also to 
pray for others as well as for ourselves, and to assure us 
that others are also praying for us. 

KXPI^ANATORY NOTKS. 

The preface to the Lord's Prayer (which is Our Father which art 
in heaven,) teacheth us to draw near to God with all holy reverence 
and confidence, as children to a father, able and ready to help us ; and 
that we should pray with and for others. — Shorter Catechism. 

The Lord's Prayer is the Prayer of prayers, as the Bible is the Book 
of books. — Schaff. 
I. The preface itself. It points out the object of worship, and the 

place where he dwells. 
II, What this preface teaches respecting ourselves. 

1. God is our Father in heaven. This is his most endearing 

name. He is our Father by creation, and still more by 
adoption and regeneration. 

2. We are to draw near to God with all holy reverence. He is 

the infinite God, far above us. He is holy, and to be had 
in reverence : Ps. Ixxxix. 7. 

3. We are to draw near with confidence : Eph. iii. 12. He is 

trustworthy, and keeps all his promise?. 



l68 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

4. We are to come as children to a father able and ready to 
help. He is almighty, and can help : Bph iii. 20. He is 
love, and therefore willing : i John iv. 16. Christ came 
to show us the Father : John xiv. 8-1 1. 
III. What this preface teaches respecting others. 

1. That we should pray with others. "Our Father " includes 

others in the family of God. Members of a family on 
earth may pray to their Father in heaven ; so may friends^ 
so may congregations, so may a nation, so may ' ' all peo- 
ple that on earth do dwell. ' ' 

2. That we should pray for others. They belong to the family, 

need blessings, and claim a share of our sympathy and 
effort : i Tim. ii. 1-3 

LKSSONS. 

1. " Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My Father, thou 
art the guide of my youth? " Jer. iii. 4. 

2. Pity the fatherless, and lead them to say, *' Our Father," with 
you. — Steel. 

We are permitted to call God Our Father, because his Son has 
accepted us as his brethren. Read Matt. xii. 49, 50. Heathen, Jews 
and Turks and all unbelievers or infidels have no right to call God 
Father. The Lord's Prayer is the Kingdom Prayer {Reichs Gebet) of 
all the children of God. Therefore we say Our Father, because we 
pray along with the other children of God. On the duty of interces- 
sory prayer, read i Tim. ii. 1-6 ; Matt. v. 44. As true children of God 
we can pray to him with all trust and confidence. ' ' For this purpose 
God would affectionately encourage us. ' ' Mark xi. 24. 

The additional words, " who art in heaven " should induce us to 
humility and reverence, i Peter v. 5 . 

Consider the prayers of the Pharisee and the Publican. Luke 
xviii. II, 13. 

Prayer offered in the name of Jesus has the promise of an an- 
swer. That is, our pra3^ers must be based upon the command of Jesus, 
and upon his promise, and merits, or in accordance with the mind of 
Jesus. John xvi. 23, 2^.— Ernst Muehe. 

ANECDOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

"Wherever God has been acknowledged, he has been understood 
and worshiped as a Father. The very heathen poets so describe their 
gods ; and their vulgar names did carry father in them, as the most 
popular and universal notion." — Bishop Pearson. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 1 69 

"Plato, Plutarch, and other heathen sages, speak of the Deity as 

* father and maker of all.' Homer's favorite designation of Jupiter is 

* father of gods and men. ' Horace represents him as the ' ' father and 
guardian of mankind. ' And Paul in his address to the Athenians re- 
fers to two Grecian poets, Aratus and Cleanthes, as having said that 
^ we are the offspring of God.' " — Dr. Crawford. 

Max Muller says that in Sanskrit, Greek, and Latin, the name of 
God is "Heaven-Father." Bre these languages were separated, the 
Aryan nation had one name for God. It was that of ' ' Our Father 
which art in heaven. ' ' 

* * God is frequently spoken of in Scripture as the Father of the na- 
tion of Israel, and they are his sons. . . This special sonship of the 
national Israel was typical of the more special relation in which the 
spiritual Israel — they that believe on the Lord Jesus Christ — stand to 
God as his children. This special relationship of the believer to God 
rests entirely on the mediatorial work of Jesus Christ." — Dr. L. Alex- 
ander. 

A Parsee meeting with a Jew one day, asked him what name his 
people gave to the Supreme Being. The Jew replied, " We call him 
Jehovah Adonai — the Lord, who is, and was, and is to come. " " That 
is a grand name, ' ' said the Parsee ; ' ' but it is awful, too. ' ' A Christian 
who happened to be present, remarked, " We call him Father.'''' ' 
With one accord they all raised their eyes to heaven, and said " Our 
Father, ' ' shook hands, and called one another brothers. 

' ' I love sometimas in prayer to remember even the meanest 
stranger I have met on the public road, with whom, perhaps, I have 
«ot exchanged a word ; or to be urgent in my intercessions for some 
common acquaintance, for whom otherwise I have never felt any in- 
terest. It is delightful to remain longer upon my bended knees, and 
to recall every individual, without exception, seen during the past day, 
and to pray for them and all connected with them, though unknown 
to me." — C. B. Taylor. 

John Randolph, the eccentric, but influential statesman, once ad- 
dressed himself to an intimate friend in terms something like the fol- 
lowing : — "I used to be called a Frenchman, because I took the 
French side in politics ; and though that was unjust, yet the truth is, I 
should have been a French atheist, if it had not been for one recollec- 
tion, and that was the memory of the time when my departed mother 
used to take my little hands in hers, and cause me on my knees to say, 
* Our Father which art in heaven.' " 



170 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

The night before Dr. Chalmers died he went into his garden, and 
was overheard by one of his family, in low but very earnest tones, say- 
ing, " O Father, my heavenly Father." 

In a family at Shelton, lived Mr. G., a person much given to 
swearing. A child, about four years of age, would often remark to her 
mother, with great horror, how Mr. G. swore, and wished to reprove 
him, but for some time durst not. One day she said to her mother, 
** Does Mr. G. say Our Father f' (a term she used to express in her 
prayers.) The mother replied, she could not tell; she then said, "I 
will watch, and if he does, I will tell him of swearing so. ' ' She did 
watch, and heard him say his prayers privately in bed. Soon after 
this, she heard him swear bitterly ; upon which she said to him, " Did 
you not say Our Father this morning ? — how dare you swear ! Do you 
think he will be your Father if you swear ? ' ' He answered not a word, 
but seemed amazed ; and well he might. He did not live long after 
this, but was never heard to swear again. ' ' Out of the mouth of babes 
and sucklings God has ordained strength." 

' ' Some impressions, ' ' says a young man, lately gone abroad as a 
missionary to the heathen, "of the importance and necessity of true 
religion, were made upon my mind at a very early period. The first 
particular one that I recollect was, I think, when I was about five 
years of age. There happened one day a very violent storm of thun- 
der and lightning in our neighborhood ; on which occasion a few 
Christian friends, who lived near us, terrified by its violence, came into 
my father's house. When under his roof, in a moment there came a 
most vivid flash, followed by a dreadful peal of thunder, which much 
alarmed the whole company, except my father, who turning towards 
my mother and our friends, with the greatest composure, repeated 
these words of Dr. Watts : 

' ' The God that rules on high. 

And thunders when he please ; 
That rides upon the stormy sky. 

And manages the seas : 
This awful God is ours ; 

Our Father and our Love, ' ' etc. 

These words, accompanied with such circumstances, sunk deep into 
my heart. I thought, how safe and happy are those who have the 
great God for their father and friend ; but, being conscious that I had 
sinned against him, I was afraid he was not my father, and that, in- 
stead of loving me, he was angry with me ; and this, for some time af- 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. I /I 

ter, continued to distress and grieve my mind. ' ' He then proceeds to 
say, that these early impressions were succeeded by others, occasioned 
by parental admonitions, the death of a sister, the conversation of 
pious friends, and the reading of useful books, which terminated in his 
conversion. 

Luther says. When I believe that God, who made heaven and 
earth, and all creatures, and keeps them in his hand and power, is my 
Father^ then I conclude most certainly, that I am also a lord of heaven 
and earth. Furthermore, Christ is my brother, and all his is mine ; Ga- 
briel must be my servant, Raphael must be my coachman, and all the 
angels must be my servants in times of need. This is conferred upon 
me by my Heavenly Father. 

Inasmuch as God calls himself Our Father, he has conferred upon 
us his paternal oversight, care and nourishment. He will rule over us, 
protect us, he will have patience with our weakness, he will admonish, 
teach and chastise us. 

THE FIRST PETITION. 

21 J. What is the First Petition in the Lord's Prayer ? 

" Hallowed be thy name." 

218, How is this to be understood ? 

God's name is indeed holy in itself; but we pray in 
this petition that it may also be sanctified by us. 

2ig. When is this effected ? 

When the word of God is taught pure and unadulter- 
ated, and we, as the children of God, live holy lives, con- 
formably to its precepts. To this, may the Lord our 
Father in heaven, incline us ! 

But he, whose doctrine and life are contrary to the 
word of God, dishonors the name of God among us. From 
this preserve us, O Lord, our Heavenly Father ! 

220. What is here meant by " Thy Name? " 

By the name of God is meant God himself and every- 
thing which represents him, but here is especially meant 
his paternal, or Father name. 



1/2 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

221. Who hallows God's name ? 

1. God hallows his own name when he reveals him- 
self, as his name imports, as gracious, holy, just, true, etc. 

Kzekiel xxxvi. 23. And I will sanctify my great name, which 
was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the 
midst of them ; and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, saith 
the Ivord God, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. 

2. We human beings, who are his rational creatures, 
hallow God's name, when we use his attributes, his word 
and sacraments as he requires ; for example when we trust 
his Omnipotence, realize his Omnipresence, and employ all 
the means of grace for the strengthening of our faith, in 
short, everything to God's glory. 

222. How should we apply and improve this petition to 
ourselves ? 

1. We should be careful that among us and by us the 
name of God is hallowed by scriptural doctrine and holy 
lives. 

2. We should pray God that he would shield us from 
desecration of his name, resulting from impure doctrine and 
unholy lives 

22 J. Who pray this petition to their own condemnation? 

All the ungodly pray this petition to their own con- 
demnation, for if God shall hallow his name, that is his 
name of holiness and righteousness, then he must hate and 
punish the ungodly, and according to his truthfulness en- 
force his threatnings. 

Psalms V. 5. The foolish shall not stand in thy sight : thou hat- 
est all workers of iniquity. 

EXPI^ANATORY NOTE)S. 

In the first petition (which is Hallowed be thy name,) we pray, 
that God would enable us and others to glorify him in all that 
whereby he maketh himself known ; and that he would dispose all 
things to his glory. — Shorter Catechism. 

I/Uthersays, The devil has no objection to have Christ pass over 
the tongue if only he can lie under the tongue and in the heart. 



ILLUSTRATED CAIECHISM. 1/3 

I. The first petition is, that God's name maybe hallowed. To hal- 
low is to sanctify or glorify. The name of God is that by 
which he maketh himself known. 
II. As a prayer this implies that God would enable us and others to 
glorify him. 

1. All our spiritual ability comes from God : 2 Cor. iii. 5. 

2. He has promised sufficient grace for this service : 2 Cor. xii. 9, 

III. We are to seek to glorify God in all that whereby he maketh 

himself known. 

1. In his work of creation : Ps. xix. 1-6. 

2. In his works of providence : Ps. viii ; Gen. xxxii. 10. 

3. In his works of salvation : i Cor, xv. 10. 

IV. We pray that God would dispose all things to his own glory. 

1. This is his own great aim : Rev. iv. 11 ; Num. xiv. 21. 

2. All his intelligent and devout servants seek this. Angels : 

Isa. vi. 3. The redeemed : i Cor. vi. 20. 

3. This was the prayer of Christ : John xvii. i. 

IvESSONS. 

1. Man's chief end is to glorify God. 

2. God will be glorified in our condemnation, if we seek not to 
glorify him in our salvation. — Steel. 

The most important and holy petition is the first one. For this 
reason the Lord placed it first, God's name is God's being or essence. 
We pray that his name may be hallowed by us. 

This is done, according to Luther : 

1. When the Word of God is taught in its purity, unmixed with 
error ; 

2. When we as his children live pure and holy lives. 
The desecration of the name of God consist in 

1. Teaching false doctrines, and 

2. Living unholy, godless lives. 

ANECDOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

' ' This petition is with the utmost propriety placed first, because 
the name of God, and the honor and glory which belong to it, are 
most precious in his sight, and ought to be so in ours. If it is not our 
design above all things to honor the name of God, we cannot use this 
prayer aright ; nor can we with any propriety present unto God the 
other petitions. " — Patterson, 

The Honorable Robert Boyle, the natural philosopher of his time, 
paused always before he uttered the name of God, being impressed 
with solemnity. 



174 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

*' It is related of a little girl, who was sitting on a stranger's knee 
when travelling, that when he took God's name in vain nothing could 
induce her to retain her seat." — Rev. J. H. Wilson. 

" My heaven is to please God, and to glorify him, and give all to 
him, and to be wholly devoted to his glory : that is the heaven I long 
for, that is my religion, and that is my happiness, and always was, 
ever since, I suppose, I had any true religion ; and all those that are 
of that religion shall meet me in heaven. I do not go to heaven to be 
advanced, but to give honor to God. It is no matter where I shall be 
stationed in heaven, whether I shall have a high or a low seat there ; 
but to love, please, and glorify God in all." — David Brainerd. 

" It is worthy of :^emark and remembrance, that in teaching us to 
pray, in this brief summary of devotion, the same order is observed as 
in .specifying our moral obligations in the Decalogue ; that is, the duty 
which we owe to God takes precedence of that which is due to our- 
selves and to our fellow-men. Of six petitions contained in this prayer, 
the first three relate exclusively to God : teaching us to regard his 
glory as supreme, and as claiming our attention before we even men- 
tion what relates to the welfare of his creatures. It ought also to be 
noted, that when we pray that God would enable us and others to 
glorify him, we impliedly confess that we are unable to do so without 
his assistance. ' ' —Dr. Ashbell Green. 

" O ye who bear Christ's holy name. 

Give God all praise and glory ; 
All ye who own his power, proclaim 

Aloud the wondrous story ! 
Cast each false idol from his throne ; 
The Lord is one, and he alone : 

To God all praise and glory."— Schultz. 

In the life of Mr. Wyndham, prefixed to his speeches in parlia- 
ment, it is remarked, that nothing so highly offended him as any care- 
less or irreverent use of the name of the Creator. ' ' I remember, ' ' 
says his biographer, ' ' that, on reading a letter addressed to him, in 
which the words ' My God ' had been made use of on a light accasion, 
he hastily snatched a pen, and before he could finish the letter, blotted 
out the misplaced exclamation. ' ' 

When the Rev. Thomas Scott was speaking to Mr, Newton on a 
change of situation with regard to interest ; Mr. N. told him the story 
of a nobleman who was selected as ambassador by his king, but ex- 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 175 

cused himself, on the ground of his family, and urgent concerns at 
home ; but was answered, ' ' You must go, only do you mind my con- 
cerns heartily, and I will take care of yours." "Thus," saith Mr. 
Newton, ' ' God, as it were, says to you. ' ' 

One day, when the Rev. Mr. James Durham and the Rev. Mr. 
Andrew Gray, were to preach in the same town, as they were walking 
together, Mr. Durham observing multitudes throng into the church 
where Mr. Gray was to preach, and but one here and there dropping 
into the one he was to preach in, said to Mr. Gray, " Brother, I per- 
ceive you are like to have a throng church to-day. ' ' To which Mr. 
Gray answered, * ' Truly brother, they are fools to leave you, and come 
to me." To which Mr. Durham nobly replied. " Not so, dear brother, 
for a minister can receive no such honor and success in the ministry, 
except it be given him from heaven. I rejoice that Christ is preached 
and that his kingdom and interest are getting ground, and that his 
honor and esteem do increase, though my esteem in people's heart 
should decrease, and be diminished ; for I am content to be any thing, 
so that Christ may be all in all. ' ' 

When they praised Charlemagne for his great deeds, he used to 
praise the Lord God in these words : ' ' Christ rules, Christ conquers, 
Christ triumphs. ' ' 

The scoffer can injure God as little as you can defile a ray of sun- 
light with mud, or paint it black. — Ger. Proverb. 

The sun loses nothing of its brightness whether we praise or blame 
it. — Ger. Proverb. 

What injury is it to the diamond if you call it a pebble ? or throw 
it under the bench ? It injures only the person who does it. 

Preach the Word pure. The congregation is usually the mirror 
in which one can see the likeness of its preacher. — Ger. Proverb. 

A good coachman must not only know his horses but also the way. 
— Ger. Proverb. 

The word ' ' holy " is a weighty word. If you bring that which is 
called holy to your reason, then it says, I do not understand it. If you 
bring it to a comparison of its value, then the reply is. Here no com- 
parison can be made. If you bring it to the estimation of your con- 
science, then your conscience must say. It is the most unalloyed, the 
purest ; there is no spot or wrinkle in it, not the least. If you bring it 
to your consciousness that it shall give a description of that which is 
holy, then your consciousness will declare, It is attractive and it is re- 



17^ ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

pulsive, it is elevating and depressing, when it cpmes near to me, or is 
within me, in the degree^ that I may be pure or defiled, good or bad. 
— Claus Harm's Sermons on the Lord's Prayer. 

To the question. How is God's name hallowed ? we reply with 
I/Uther. In two ways, i. When the word of God is taught pure and 
unadulterated, and 2. When we ourselves live holy as the cliildren of 
God. 

"To this may the Lord, our Father in heaven incline us." Yes, 
thou art my father. This is thy glory ; I am thy child, that is my 
glory, and my care shall be, that I do not dishonor thy and my name. 
Soli Dei Gloria means, To God be all the glory. 

That we sbould live holy lives. Pachomius, a heathen youth, 
was drafted into the army by the Roman Bmperor Constantine. When 
the recruits came into a certain city late in the evening, some men, 
unasked, hastened to bring some supplies to the weary and hungry 
soldiers, and cheer them with kind words. Surprised at this unsoli- 
cited kindness, Pachomius asked who these people were ? He was told 
that they were Christians, who strive to do good to every one, espec- 
ially to strangers. Very earnestly he sought to inform himself of their 
religion and silently prayed to God, ' ' If thou wilt, enable me to un- 
derstand this blessed religion of love, and deliver me out of my present 
distressful situation, then I will devote my whole life to thy glory and 
service. ' ' Soon after, Constantine obtained the victory over his adver- 
sary, and released a part of his army, among them Pachomius. He 
hastened to Chenoboscium, a village in Thebes, in order to receive 
instruction in the christian religion. Soon after he was baptized and 
labored with great blessing among his brethren. 

In Luther's explanation it is said, "To this help us, Lord, our 
Heavenly Father, ' ' and * * From this preserve us, O Lord, our Heavenly 
Father. ' ' For when God, our Heavenly Father, does not help us, we 
cannot abide by the pure doctrine, nor live a holy life, because by na- 
ture all men are liars, and do not love the truth. 

On this subject John Pauli relates the following fable : 
Once upon a time four virgins met together and talked in a 
friendly manner with each other and said, " O, we are so happy here 
together. If we wish to meet again, where shall we meet again ! ' ' 
Their names were Fire, Air, Water and Heavenly Truth. And they 
said, "Fire, where shall we find thee? " The fire answered, " In the 
hard flint stone ; when you find it, and strike it with a steel, you will 
find me." Then they said to the air, "Sister, where shall we find 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 1/7 

thee ? where is thy home ? ' ' The air said, * ' You must look where a 
leaf moves and trembles on a tree, there will you find me and there is 
my home. ' ' Then they said to the water, ' ' Sister, where shall we 
find thee ? and where is thy home ? The water answered, ' ' When 
you find where the palm trees grow, there dig down to the roots, and 
you will find me ; there is my home. ' ' Then they said, ' ' Oh, thou 
noble daughter, heavenly, divine Truth, where shall we find thee?" 
And heavenly truth replied, ' * Oh, my dear sisters, you all have told 
the places where you can be found, but alas, I have no home of my 
own, no one will entertain me. None wish to hear tell of me, none 
will open where I knock, but they go away when I come ; they avoid 
me, and where I would do them good, they regard me as an enemy, 
and where I would like to stay, they drive me away with hatred, lies 
and contradiction." 

Ivuther used to say of Nicholas Hausman, pastor at Zwichau, 
"What we teach, Hausmann lives. 

A teacher had told his pupils the history of Araham and Lot, and 
told them what a peace-loving man Abraham had been. Some days 
after he noticed that two of his scholars were quarreling with each 
other. He did not interfere, but heard the one say to the other, 
* ' Choose where you will go. If you will remain in the school-room, 
I will go into the yard ; but, if you will go into the yard, I will stay 
in the school-room. ' ' 

The proposition was agreed to and peace restored. 

THE SECOND PETITION. 

22^. What is the Second Petition ? 

" Thy kingdom come." 

22^. How is this to be understood? 

The kingdom ot God will come, indeed, without our 
prayers ; but, we pray, in this petition, that it may also 
come unto us. 

226. When is this effected ? 

When our Heavenly Father gives us his Holy Spirit, 
so that by his grace we believe his holy word and live a 
godly life, here on earth and in heaven forever. 

22y. What is meant by the kingdom of God ? 

By the kingdom of God is meant the reign of God, as 



178 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

Lord and King, and also as Father over us, as his subjects 
and children, who love and honor him. 

228. What da we more particularly pray for in this 
second petition? 

In this second petition we pray that 

1. Satan's kingdom may be destroyed; 

2. The kingdom of grace advanced ; 

3. Ourselves and others brought into it ; and 

4. The kingdom of glory hastened. 

22g. How may Gods kingdom, be classified? 

God's kingdom may be classified into 

1. The kingdom of nature; 

2. The kingdom of grace, and 

3. The kingdom of glory. 

Psalm X. 16. The Lord is King forever and ever : the heathen 
are perished out of his land. 

2^0. Why do we pray " thy kingdom come ? 

We pray thus, because it is the kingdom of the triune 
God, which 

1 . God the Father has ordained from eternity ; 

Bphesians i. 4. According as he hath chosen us in him before 
the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without 
blame before him in love. 

2. God the Son has purchased with his blood ; and 

3. God the Holy Ghost has established within us. 

lyuke xvii. 21. Neither shall they say, Lo, here ! or, lo there ! 
for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. 

2^1. What is implied in this petition ? 

This petition implies, that there are many yet out of 
the kingdom of God, and are merely in the kingdom of na- 
ture ; yea, under the power and dominion of Satan, who 
draws them by their evil passions and the cords of sin, to 
become his willing slaves. These, therefore, exclude them- 
selves from the kingdom of God. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 1/9 

2J2. When does the kingdom of God come to us per- 
sonally f 

The kingdom of God comes to us personally, when 

1. Through the grace of the Holy Spirit, we believe 
and obey the word of God ; and 

2. Are transferred out of the state of nature and the 
dominion of Satan, into the kingdom of grace and holiness, 
and after death into the kingdom of glory. 

233 ' Who pray this petition to their own condemna- 
tion ? 

All the enemies of the kingdom of God, and slaves of 
Satan, who seek to hinder the coming of God's kingdom 
and to extend the kingdom of Satan, pray this petition to 
their own condemnation. 

KXPIvANATORY NOTES. 

The kingdom of God is opposed in the world ; but it is, neverthe- 
less, always coming, until it reaches its great consummation. Our Lord 
taught us to pray for its coming. This includes several points, 

I. That Satan's kingdom may be destroyed. 

1. This is the grand impediment to the kingdom of God. 

2 . Satan is called the ' ' god of this world, ' ' 2 Cor. iv. 4 ; the 

' ' prince of this world, ' ' John xiv. 30 ; the ' * prince of the 
power of the air," Bph. ii. 2, 

3. He is to be overthrown : Rom xvi. 20 ; Rev. xx. 2, 3. 
II. That the kingdom of grace may be advanced. 

1. There is a kingdom of grace. It is the kingdom of God 

which we are to seek : Matt. vi. 33. 

2. Christ is the King : John xviii. 36, 37 ; Bph. i. 22, 23 ; Col. 

i. 13. He is head over all. 

3. His kingdom is now in the hearts of his people : Luke xvii. 21. 

4. He rules in us by his grace, Rom. v. 21, which is the source 

of all our blessings, Bph. ii. 8. 
III. That ourselves and others may be brought into it, and kepi in it. 

1. We need to be delivered out of the power of darkness, and 

brought into the kingdom of God's dear Son : Col. i. 13. 

2. Christ has provided for this. Let us say, " Lord, remember 

me when thou comest into thy kingdom : ' ' Luke xxiii. 42. 



l80 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

3. We should press into the kingdom of God : Luke xvi. 16, 

4. We should pray and labor for others : Rom. x. i. 

5. God alone can keep us in it : Ps. xvii. 5 ; cxix. 117 ; John 

xvii. 15. 
IV. That the kingdom of glory may be hastened. 

1. There is a kingdom of glory : i Cor. xv. 50 ; Rev. xxii. 5. 

2. It is not yet come ; i John iii. 2. 

3. It will come : Dan. ii. 44. 

4. Christ will himself bring it : 2 Tim. iv. i. 

5. It is for his saints : Luke xii. 32 ; Dan. vii. 22. 

6. We are to pray for it, Rev. xxii. 20 ; and to hasten its com- 

ing, 2 Peter iii. 12. 

IvKSSONS. 

1. There is no glory hereafter without grace here. 

2. Every subject of Christ as King longs for the coming of his 
kingdom . — Steel. 

The kingdom of God is three-fold. i. The Kingdom of Nature, 
2. The Kingdom of Grace, and 3. The Kingdom of Glory. Here we 
are occupied especially with the second and third, of whose coming on 
earth all the prophets have foretold. See for example Daniel ii. 44 ; 
Daniel vii. 23-27. By the advent of Christ it came to the earth. Since 
the outpouring of the Holy Ghost, it has been spread abroad. It is 
not from, or out of this world, but it comes from above. But in the 
course of time it will unfold itself also externally as the glorious king- 
dom of Christ, and embrace all the nations of the earth. Rev. xx. 1-6. 
The penitent malefactor prayed for admission into this kingdom, we 
will also do so. 

The kingdom of grace comes to us, when God gives us his Holy 
Spirit. But when he comes into our hearts, he works i. that we be- 
lieve the word of God, and 2. that we live a Godly life. 

But we pray also, that the kingdom of Jesus may also come to the 
Jews, the Turks, Infidels, and heathen. It is a Mission Prayer. Matt, 
ix. 37, 38. 

ANECDOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

In the second petition, (which is. Thy Kingdom Come,) we pray 
that Satan's kingdom may be destroyed ; and that the kingdom of 
grace may be advanced, ourselves and others brought into it ; and that 
the kingdom of glory may be hastened. — Shorter Catechism,. 

A little girl sent about ten shillings to a gentleman for the purchase 
of some missionary tracts ; and in her letter she says, "She who takes 
this freedom to ask so much of a stranger, began this letter with a 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. l8l 

trembling hand. She is indeed young in years and in knowledge 
too, and is not able to talk much with a gentleman on religion ; but 
her mother has taught her, almost eleven years, to say, ' Thy King- 
dom Come ; ' and she believes she cannot be saying it sincerely if she 
does nothing to help it on among the heathen. This thought embold- 
ens her to write to a stranger, almost as though he were a friend. ' ' 

Melanchton, going once upon some great service for the church of 
Christ, and having many doubts and fears about the success of his busi- 
ness, was greatly relieved by a company of poor women and children, 
whom he found praying together for the prosperity of the church. 

Dr. James Spener, some days before his death, gave orders that 
nothing of black should be in his coffin ; — " For," said he, "I have 
been a sorrowful man these many years, lamenting the deplorable 
state of Christ's church militant upon earth ; but now being upon the 
point of retiring into the church triumphant in heaven, I will not have 
the least .mark of sorrow left upon me ; but my body shall be wrapped 
up all over in white, for a testimony that I die in expectation of a bet- 
ter, and more glorious state of Christ's church to come, even upon 
earth." 

" In a saving sense, Christ's kingdom is not without, but within 
us. Its seat is in the heart ; and unless that be right, all is wrong. It 
does not lie in outward things. It is not meat and drink ; not baptism 
or the communion ; not sobriety, purity, honesty, and the other decen- 
cies of a common respectability. ' Except a man be born again, he 
cannot see the kingdom of God. ' Its grace and power have their em- 
blem in the leaven the woman lays, not on the meal, but in the meal 
— in the heart of the lump, where, working from within outwards, 
from the centre to the circumference, it sets the whole mass ferment- 
ing, changing it into its own nature. Even so the work of conversion 
has its origin in the heart " — Dr. Guthrie. 

" The coming of God's kingdom towers above all other events^ 
like the mountains above the molehills of earth. It is for that the 
world is kept in being ; and when that event is accomplished there 
will be such a shout of jubilee throughout the whole universe as has 
never been since the world began. Anything we can do or give to 
bring it about is little at the best ; but the King graciously permits his 
children to aid in bringing about what is pleasing to his fatherly 
heart. ' ' — Rev. J. Wilson. 

The missionary cause is the cause of Christ's kingdom. All may 
aid this, by prayer, by gifts, by work. 



1 82 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

Three resolutions were once proposed and carried at a Negro mis- 
sionary meeting in the West Indies : " i. That all give something ; 2. 
That all give as God has prospered us ; 3. That all give willingly." 
As soon as this was passed, a leading Negro took his seat at the table 
with pen and ink to put down the gifts. Many came, some giving 
more, and some less. At length one rich old Negro came and threw 
down a small silver coin. ' ' Take dat back, ' ' said the collector. ' ' Dat 
may agree with de first, but not with de second resolution. ' ' The 
rich man went back to his seat ; but feeling ashamed when he saw 
what others were giving, he returned and threw down a piece of gold, 
saying, " Dere, take dat ! " " No," said the collector, " dat won't do 
yet It may agree with de first and second resolutions, but not with 
de third. ' ' The money was taken back in anger ; but by-and-by, when 
nearly all had gone, he came up with a smile and gave a large sum. 
"Very well," said the Negro, " dat will do ; it be according to all de 
resolutions ! " 

It does not say, ' ' lyct us come into thy kingdom, ' ' but ' ' Let thy 
kingdom come " to us For we, by our own strength, are not able to 
enter into the kingdom of God, but it must come to us, God must bring 
us into his kingdom. Thus the kingdom of God comes, and no one 
could ever prevent its coming, but it is like the sun, which rises in its 
course, higher and higher, whether men will or not. 

When John Huss was burnt, he called out from the midst of the 
flames, ' * To-day ye are roasting, as my name imports, a goose (in the 
Bohemian language Huss means a goose), but after a hundred years 
there shall arise out of my ashes a swan, which you will not be able 
to roast or burn ' ' Luther said in regard to this, ' ' Huss has prophe- 
sied of me, and thus it shall stand, by the will of God." 

In Prague the Protestants preserved a New Testament in the 
Bohemian language, which was ornamented with valuable pictures. 
On one of these pictures could be seen Wickliff, who had attacked the 
Romish heresies, even before Luther, striking sparks from a flint with 
a steel, then Huss, lighting a match, and last Luther with a flaming 
torch. 

One of Luthers mottoes reads as follows : ' ' Malo cum Christo 
cadere, quant cum Cos are stare. ' ' That is, "I would rather fall with 
Christ, than stand with Caesar. ' ' 

At the time of the Reformation a classical scholar found a Bible, 
and read in it Christ's sermon on the Mount, whereupon he exclaimed, 
" Either all this is not true, or we are not Christians." 



ILLUSTRATED CAIECHISM. I 83 

The 95 theses, which Luther nailed on the Castle Church door at 
Wittenberg, on the 31st of Oct., 15 17, were spread over all Germany in 
about 14 days after six weeks, they had flown over the whole of Europe, 
and at the beginning of the new year, a copy of them was bought by a 
traveller in Jerusalem. 

After Luther had begun his work of the Reformation, a young 
nobleman came on a pilgrimage to Campostella in Spain to do penance 
for his sins. As he there confessed to an old monk, and told him the 
object for which he came, the old monk said to him, "My son, why do 
you run so far for that which you could find much nearer at home ? I 
have lately seen a writing from Luther, an Augustinian monk, in which 
he teaches powerfull)^ from the word of God, that man can obtain sal- 
vation by no other means, than b)'^ faith in Jesus Christ. Hold fast to 
this and you will be saved. ' ' 

The kingdom of heaven is within you. Do 3^ou ask, how can we 
know that we are in the kingdom, then St, Paul gives us the answer, 
The kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness and 
peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. Rom. xiv. 17. 

Do you yourself feel the blessedness of citizenship in the kingdom 
of heaven, then you will wish that others might also be brought 
into the kingdom. Paul exclaimed before Agrippa, ' ' I would that all 
were such as I. " 

Let us enlarge the circle. "Thy kingdom come !" Alas ! there are 
yet 600 millions heathen people on earth ! What desire do you express 
in these words : Answer, ' * Thy kingdom come also to those 600 mil- 
lions of benighted heathen ! ' ' 

How will this be accomplished? Luther says, " When our Heav- 
enly Father gives us his Holy Spirit. ' ' The kingdom of God could 
not come into the world, till the Holy Ghost was poured out upon the 
disciples on the day of Pentecost. 

St. Paul says, i Cor. iii. 9. We are co-workers with God. This is 
the highest honor any one can enjoy in the kingdom of God. 

FAITH AND A GODIvY LIFE. 

Scriptural Examples. Thy kingdom come. John Baptist, Matt. 
iii. I, 2 ; Jesus and the Pharisees, Luke xvii. 20, 21 ; Jesus and Nico- 
demus, John iii, 3. The Scribe, Mark xii, 28-34 ; The preaching of 
the 70, Luke x. 9, 11 ; Paul, Gal. ii. 20. 

In London a society was organized consisting of mothers, for the 
purpose of unitedly praying for the conversion of their children. 



1^4 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

The pious pastor, John Pommer, a co-laborer with Luther, cele- 
brated an annual anniversary of the translation of the Bible by Luther, 
in which, with his children and invited friends, he thanked God for 
the inestimable treasure of the German Bible. 

When Augustine wanted to become a Christian, he asked the aged 
bishop Ambrosius, which book in the Bible he should read first ? Am- 
brosius replied, he should begin with the prophet Isaiah^ because no 
prophet treats so plainly of the sufferings, martyrdom, death and bur- 
ial of Christ, which was most offensive to the heathen. Augustine 
followed this good advice, and was so much strengthened in his faith, 
that he said. It seems to me, that Isaiah has not written a prophecy, 
but a gospel. 

The dutchess of Nassau heard the verse, Isaiah xliii. 25, "I, even 
I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions, for mine own sake, and 
will not remember thy sins " She was so highly rejoiced, that she 
publicly exclaimed, ' ' This verse is worth fifty dollars. ' ' 

Urbanus Regius, general superintendent of Lueneburg, regarded 
as his favorite Scripture verse, Jeremiah xxiii. 6, "This is his name 
whereby he shall be called, The Lord^ ou*- righteousness.''^ And he 
said, ' ' I have never been so down cast, but that this verse has com- 
forted me. I would not exchange it for a hundred worlds. " 

The pious minister, Seligman, persuaded an Athiest to listen to the 
reading of a single chapter from the Bible with earnest and close at- 
tention. The Athiest was astonished and convicted. After a few days 
he came again, and requested, that Seligman should read and explain 
another such a chapter to him. He did so, and the unbeliever was 
convinced of the truth of the hoi}' Scriptures and Christianity. 

THE EXTENSION OF THE KINGDOM AMONG OURSELrVES, AND AMONG 

THE HEATHEN. 

Scriptural Examples. Abraham, Gen. xviii. 19 ; Asa, 2 Chron. 
xiv. 3, 4 ; Joash and Zachariah, 2 Chron. xxiv. ; Abraham, Gen. xvii. 
13 ; Solomon and the queen of Sheba, i Kings x. 1-13 ; David, Psalm 
ix. 20; lix. 5 ; Daniel ii. 27; iv. 24; v. 18, etc.; Peter, Acts x. 11 ; 
Paul, Acts xiii. ; Gains, 3 John 5-8. 

A Christian, who on account of his occupation was compelled to 
go much on journies, sought at the same time to promote the kingdom 
of God. He endeavored to converse with all his fellow travellers on 
the one thing needful. At times it was very difficult to do this. 
Sometimes an extraordinary dread almost overcame him at the begin- 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. T85 

ning of the conversation. But then the thought came into his mind, 
"What a great joy it is to become the instrument in the hand of God 
in saving a soul from death." And this thought always inspired him 
with courage and zeal in this work of love. 

Sophia Von Gladebach, a cotemporary with Canstein, bequeathed 
in her will, 1728, the sum of I500, from which every house in her es- 
tate should be supplied with two Bibles ; one with large and the other 
with small print. These Bibles were to remain in the dwelling houses 
as part of the property, and when there was a change of tenants they 
should be given over to the new tenants. If any of them should be- 
come injured or lost, they were to be replaced, in order, as the pious 
lady expressed it, " That the precious word of God, as much as I can 
help, may be implanted in the hearts of the people. ' ' 

In the year 1825, an aged widow, who was supported by charity 
came with great joy to pastor Kohlreiff in Moskau. She had read in the 
mission paper, the reports of the gospel being preached among the 
heathen. She had not known that anything of this kind was going 
on in the world. For this work, she said, she was willing to give 
everything she had, but that would, evidently, not help much ; and 
this seemed evident, as she was dressed almost in rags. But after re- 
flection ; she had one precious treasure, a small gold ring ; it was the 
most cherished and valued treasure she possessed, her wedding ring 
given her by her sainted husband ; she gave it to the pastor for the 
heathen. 

At a missionary meeting, a young man in the rear of the audience 
room arose, and with a trembling voice, said, "May I speak a few 
words? " All eyes were turned in the direction whence the voice pro- 
ceeded. Permission was given, and amid profound silence, in the 
congregation, the young man began : "I am 15 years old ; three years 
ago, I felt the need of a Savior, I sought and found him, and since that 
time it has been the desire of my heart to preach the gospel to the 
heathen. In the school I often read of the work that is done by the 
missionaries in Birma, and I would take great pleasure in preaching the 
gospel to the people of Birma. I announce this to you to-day, and if 
you regai-d me a suitable person for missionary work, I am here at 
your disposal. ' ' When he ended a venerable man arose and spoke as 
follows : ' ' This young man is my son ; for a long time I have believed 
that he loves the Lord, but I did not know, that such a wish possessed 
his heart. God forbid, that I should put any hindrances in his way ; 
but I have no money to send him to school, in order that he may be 
educated and prepared for the work. ' ' Immediately after he sat down, 



1 86 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

another man rose in the assembly, and said, ' ' I have wealth ; I will 
pay the expense of his education, and after that, I will send him to 
Birma ; I hope we shall meet in heaven, and together we will lay our 
crowns at the feet of Jesus, and adore him." 

Many grains make a great heap. At a missionary meeting in the 
great seaport, Liverpool, in England, where a number of Welshmen, 
from Wales, were present, a Welsh preacher was urged to say a few 
words to these Welshmen, who did not understand English. He did 
so, and when it was observed that his address made a deep impression, 
the Englishmen asked him what he had said. **0," said he, "I 
spoke about the pennies. " " About the pennies ! and what did you 
say about the pennies? " " Well, I said. Many of you say, I can not 
give more for missions than a penny a week ; but what will a penny 
help ? But when I came over the mountain, on my way to lyiverpool, 
I saw a little rivulet, and said to it. Rivulet, where are you going? 
Oh, I am going down to the creek. Creek, where are you going ? 
Oh, I run into the great river, Mersey ! Well, Mersey, where are you 
going ? Oh, I am running down into Liverpool. What are you going 
to do in Liverpool ? Oh, there I will take the ships out of the harbor, 
and carry them out into the ocean, and far off into strange countries ; 
then I bring them back laden with the fruits of those countries. And 
so I also say now. Pennies, where are you going? Oh, we go to the 
shillings of the missionary society. And, shillings, where are you 
going ? Oh, we go to the half and whole pounds, of the branch socie- 
ties. And pounds, where are you going ? Oh, we go to the Central 
Missionary Society, in London. And what do you wish to do in Lon- 
don ? Well, there we take missionaries and Bibles, and carry them to 
the utmost parts of the earth, in order that England's God, and Eng- 
land's Bible may be everywhere known and loved." 

John Jacobus in Church. John Jacobus attended a missionary 
convention, and sat along with many other good Christians in church, 
and listened to the sermon. The preacher divided his sermon into 
three parts. In the first division the preacher said, among other 
things, that every Christian was in duty bound to make all the money 
he could— honestly. John gave his neighbor, sitting next to him, a 
hunch, and whispered, " Hear that, neighbor? " In the second divis- 
ion the preacher spoke of the duty of Christians, to hold on to what 
they had honestly gained. At this, John Jacobus was so much over- 
joyed, that he turned several somersaults in his mind, and gave his 
neighbor another jog in the side, whispering, *' Do you hear that? He 
is the right man in the right place ! " In his third division the preacher 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 1 8/ 

declared, that a Christian must give up everything for Christ and his 
church, if it was necessary. At this, there came a remarkable expres- 
sion of disappointment over the face of John Jacobus, and with down- 
cast looks, he said to his neighbor again : ' ' Alas ! alas ! now, at the 
end, he has spoiled everything ! ' ' But such Christians like John Jaco- 
bus will never do much mission work, 

THE THIRD PETITION. 

2j^ What is the Third Petition ? 

"Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." 

^35 What is meant by this petition ? 

The good and gracious will of God is done, indeed, 
without our prayer ; but we pray in this petition, that it 
may be done by us also. 

2^6. When is this effected? 

When God prevents and destroys all evil counsels and 
intentions, the will of the devil, of the world, and of our 
own flesh, which tend to dishonor the name of God among 
us, and hinder the coming of his kingdom to us, and when 
he strengthens and preserves us steadfast in his word and 
faith, unto our end. This is his good and gracious will. 

^37- What is meant by the " will of God'' ? 

By the " will of God " is meant his inherent and insepara- 
ble inclination to that which is good ; but in this petition is 
meant all the good which our heavenly Father wills to us. 

2j8. Towards what is God's will directed? 

God's good and gracious will is directed towards 

I. The promotion of his own glory, as is evident from 

1. The creation, especially of intelligent beings; 

2. The redemption and salvation of sinners, and 

3. The revelation of his word. 

Proverbs x\4. 4. The Lord hath made all things for himself : yea, 
even the wicked for the day of evil. 

Malachi i. 5. Your eyes shall see, and ye shall say. The Lord 
will be magnified from the border of Israel. 



1 88 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

II. The will of God is farther directed towards the 
welfare of his creatures, for 

1. He wills not only our soul's salvation, for the 

attainment of which he has pointed out the way, but he 

also grants us strength to secure our salvation. 

Bzekiel xxxiii. ii. Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, 
I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked ; but that the wicked 
turn from his way and live : turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways ; 
for why will ye die, O house of Israel ? 

John iii. i6. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only- 
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but 
have everlasting life. 

Philippians ii. 13. For it is God which worketh in you both to 
will and to do of his good pleasure. 

2. In addition he also wills our bodily welfare. 

Genesis i. 28. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, 
Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it : and 
have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, 
and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. 

2jp. Does God will that which is evil? 

No, God does not approve of evil, although sometimes 
he permits it, because he does not compel men to do right, 
but then he Qverrules the evil for good. 

Genesis 1. 20. But as for you, ye thought evil against me ; but 
God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save 
much people alive. 

2/j.o. What do the words *' thy will'' include ? 

The words *' thy will " include the will of the Triune 
God ; namely, the will of the Father, who is our Preserver, 
the will of the Son, who is our Redeemer, and the will of 
the Holy Ghost, who is our Sanctifier. 

2^1. What is meant by the words " thy will be done " ? 

By these words we pray, that we may not only 

1. Realize and leain, what is needful for the promo- 
tion of God's glory and our welfare, but also, 

2. That in all things we may strive to promote this 
object. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 1 89 

2/J.2. What is implied in the words " as in heaven^ so on 
earth "f 

These words imply, 

1. That as the will of God is done in heaven, by saints 
and angels, in obedience, praise and thanksgiving ; 

2. That it might also be done in Uke manner by men 
on earth. 

Psalm ciii. i. Bless the Lord, O my soul : and all that is within 
me, bless his holy name. 

Psalm ciii. 2. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his 
henefits. 

THE APPLICATION. 

2^^. What is the application of this petition ? 

We pray in this petition, that the will of God may be 
done and performed not only 

1. By all other rational creatures, but also 

2. By ourselves, God's grace strengthening us. 

Philippians iv. 13. I can do all things through Christ which 
strengtheneth me. 

3. We pray farther that all hindrances to the fulfill- 
ment of God's will may be removed ; such as the works of 
the devil, the world and our own flesh. 

4. And farther we pray, that we may be enabled to 
submit our own will, entirely to the will of God, and in ail 
things conduct ourselves according to his will. 

Matthew xxvi. 39. And he went a little farther, and fell on his 
face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup 
pass from me : nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt. 

2/1-/1.. Who pray this petition to their own condemnation ? 

All those pray this petition to their own condemnation, 

1. Who are dissatisfied with God's will and provi- 
dence, and 

2. Who are self-willed and obstinate even in unim- 
portant things. 



190 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

EXPI^ANATORY NOTES. 

I. The petition itself . That God's will maybe done on earth, as 
it is done in heaven. 
II. The objects desired from. God. 

1. That God would make us able and willing to know his will in 

all things : Bph. i, 18. (a.) We are ignorant by nature. 
(^.) We are unwilling to learn. (^.) We need God to teach 
us. (^.) God has promised this teaching: Isa. xlviii. 17. 
{e. ) We have examples of prayer for this in David, Ps. xxvii. 
II ; Solomon, i Kings iii. 6-10, 

2. To obey his will in all things, (a.) He can renew in us a right 

spirit : Ps. li. 10. {b. ) This is the great aim of the Chris- 
tian : 2 Cor. X. 5. (c.) Divine grace is sufficient : 2 Cor.xii.9. 

3. To submit to his will in all things. He can enable us to say, 

*' Thy will be done. " His way is best for us, and is always 
wise. Christ learned obedience by the things which he suf- 
fered, and can aid us : Heb. v. 8, 9. 
III. The pattern of obedience to God's will. The angels do his will : 

Ps. ciii. 20. They are humble, (Isa. vi. 2 , cheerful, faithful, 

constant in their obedience. 

1.KSSONS. 

1. The knowledge of God's will is the most practical and useful 
of all inquiries. 

2. The love of Christ is the best motive for obedience. — Steel. 
God's will is gracious and good, and is always done. But we pray^ 

that his will may also be done by us, and done just as it is done by the 
angels in heaven, and holy men ; namely, perfectly, zuillingly^ 
promptly, and constantly. Therefore, God must first suppress three 
evil wills ; namely, 

1. The devil's will ; 

2. The world's will ; and 

3. The will of the flesh. 

By the world is meant in the Scriptures, all wicked and unbeliev- 
ing men. i John v. 19 ; John xv. 18, 19 ; i John iii. 13. 

^\lq. flesh means the depraved human nature of man, with all its 
sinful lusts and unholy desires. 

These three enemies all entertain the evil counsel and will, 

1. That God's name should not be hallowed, and 

2. That the kingdom of God should not come. But we pray that 
God would strengthen, and keep us in his word and faith. — Muehe. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. IQl 

ANECDOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Scriptuial Examples. Abraham, Gen. xii. 1-4 ; xxii. 1-3 ; Moses^ 
Ex. iv. ; The Israelites, Ex. xxiv. 3, 7 ; Samuel, i Samuel iii. ; David, 
2 Samuel xi. 16 ; Christ, Psalm xl. 8, 9 ; Heb. x. 7 ; Matt. xxvi. 39-44 ; 
John iv. 34 ; v. 30 ; Mary, Luke i. 38. 

In the third petition, (which is, Thy will be done in earth, as it is 
in heaven, ) we pray, that God, by his grace, would make us able and 
willing to know, obey and submit to his wall in all things, as the an 
gels do in \iq:2.\^yl.— Shorter Catechistn. 

' ' Virtue is in one of its highest forms, or rather in its highest form, 
when the will is properl}^ exercised in reference to the Divine Being. 
It is somewhat higher than mere benevolence when thus directed to- 
wards so elevated an object. We feel that God does not need our good 
wishes, as he does not need our help ; and yet we feel that there is a 
holy exercise of the will due on our part, to him. Hence arises the 
desire to glorify God, being the highest desire which the creature can 
cherish, and the noblest motive by which he can be actuated. This 
internal exercise of the will finds its fullest and most appropriate em- 
bodiment and expression in praise and prayer. Under this feeling we 
say, * Hallowed be thy name, ' and earnestly long that God, as he is 
all-glorious, may be glorified as he ought. We say, ' Thy will be 
done, ' and feel it to be the highest work in which we can engage to do 
his wdll, and labor also that others may know it and do it." — Dr. AP Cosh. 

A clergyman once asked a deaf and dumb boy why he was bom 
deaf and dumb. The boy took the chalk and wrote, ' ' Even so. Father; 
for so it seemed good in thy sight. ' ' 

A Scottish Lord of Session was once on the Pentland Hills, and as a 
mist came on, he indulged in a profane remark regarding it. A shep- 
herd, who was standing by, said, * ' What ails ye at the mist ? It wats 
the gress, it slockens the yows, and it's God's wull." It was a noble 
reproof, and not likely to be forgotten. 

"Wish what the Holy One wishes, not from fear but affection : 
fear is the virtue of slaves ; but the heart that loveth is willing. — 
Bishop Tegner. 

A Sabbath-school teacher, instructing his class on this portion of 
the Lord's Prayer, said to them, " You have told me, my dear child- 
ren, what is to be done - the will of God ; and where it is to be done — 
on earth ; and how it is to be done - as it is done in heaven. How do 
you think the angels and happy spirits do the will of God in heaven, 



192 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

as they are to be our pattern ? ' ' The first child replied, ' ' They do it 
immediafely.'" The second, "They do it diligently.'" The third, 
* ' They do it always. ' ' The fourth, ' ' They do it with all their heat is. ' ' 
The fifth, ' ' They do it altogether. ' ' Here a pause ensued, and no 
child appeared to have an answer ; but after some time a little girl 
arose and said, " They do it without asking any quesiions.''' 

"I am waiting for my dismission. I desire to leave the how and 
the when and the wheie to him who does all things well." — Rev. John 
Newton. 

I have heard of a lady, who, on being visited by a friend, said, 
"I was just trying to learn the Lord's Prayer as you came in." 
"What!" said her friend, "have you never learned the Lord's 
Prayer? " " No," was the reply ; "I have just got the length of the 
third petition, and I find it hard to learn, I cannot yet say, "Thy 
will be done ! ' ' 

* ' My God and Father, while I stray. 
Far from my home, in life's rough way, 
O teach me frCm my heart to say, 
' Thy will be done." 

" Renew my will from day to day ; 
Blend it with thine ; and take away 
All that now makes it hard to say, 

' Thy will be done.' ''—Elliott. 

There was a good woman, who, when she was ill, being asked* 
whether she was willing to live or die ? answered, ' ' Which God pleas- 
eth. " "But," said one standing by, "If God should refer it to you, 
whether would you choose ? " " Truly, ' ' said she, ' ' if God should 
refer it to me, I would even refer it to him again ' ' 

Some years ago, a Christian widow in London saw, with great 
alarm, her only child taken dangerously ill. As the illness increased, 
she became almost distracted, from a dread of losing the child ; at 
length it became so extremely ill, and so convulsed, that she kneeled 
down by the bed, deeply affected, and in prayer said, "Now, Lord, 
thy will be done. " From that hour the child began to recover, till 
health was perfectly restored. 

* ' What occasions that melancholy look ? ' ' said a gentleman to 
one of his young favorites, one morning. He turned away his face, 
to hide a tear, that was ready to start from his eyes. His brother an- 
swered for him, " Mother is very angry with him," said he, "because 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 193 

he would not say his prayers last night ; and he cried all day, because 
a sparrow died of which he was very fond." The little mourner has- 
tily turned round, and looking at me, exclaimed, " I could not say. Thy 
will be done, because of my poor bird." The gentleman took him by 
the hand, and pointing to his school fellows, "Mark the observation," 
said he, ' ' from the youngest present only six years old ; for it explains 
the nature of prayer, of which, perhaps, some of you are ignorant. 
Many persons repeat words, who never prayed in their lives. My dear 
boy, I am ver}^ glad to find you were afraid to say to God, what you 
could not sa}' truly from your heart ; but you may beg of him to give 
you submission to his will. ' ' ' 

The will of the Father must be acceptable to the children. God's 
will has no why. — Ger. Proverb. 

Some one complained to Luther, ' ' Nothing appears to be going 
as I wish it anymore." Luther replied, "That is perfectlj^ right. 
Why have j^ou given your will over to the Lord God, and pray every 
day, Thy will be done in earthy as it is in heaven ? " 

A poor peasant (farmer, ) was visited on his sick-bed by his pastor, 
who asked, how it was with him? The sick man replied, "Just as I 
wish it to be " "How shall I understand you," said the pastor, "do 
you want to be sick?" "No, but what God wills, that I ^411 also. 
God wills, that I should be sick now, and that I \%all, too. If he wills, 
that I shall die, then I will that, too ; if he wills that I shall get well 
again, then I will that, also. To him I confide all. Let him do with 
me as he sees best. ' ' 

When in 1548, Charles V. deposed the Evangelical ministers from 
their churches, because they would not accept the Interim, they came 
to the Elector, John Frederick, of Saxony, himself a prisoner, and 
reported that they had not only been deposed from their services, but 
that his imperial majesty had also forbade them residence in the em- 
pire. On this information the Elector wept till the tears flowed down 
over his cheeks to the ground. Then he arose and stood by the win- 
dow, but soon turned and said to them, ' ' Has the emperor also forbid 
you the entrance into heaven?" "No," said they. The Elector 
replied, " Then, all is not lost. The kingdom must yet remain to us ; 
therefore God will find a land wherein you can preach his word." 

In the year 1537, Wolfgang, prince of Anhalt, whose name stands 
as one of the signers of the Augsburg Confession, was proscribed by 
Charles V. as an outlaw, and his possessions given to a Spanish favor- 
ite. When the letter of proscription arrived, he mounted his horse, 



194 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

and rode from his castle to Berleburg, and passing through the excited 
■city, he halted in the market-place, where he sang with a clear voice, 
the celebrated Luther hymn, Ein' feste Burg ist unser Gott. ' ' A safe, 
strong tower is our God," especially the last verse : 

The Word they still shall let remain, 

And not a thank have for it, 
He's by our side upon the plain, 

With his good gifts and Spirit ; 

Take they, then, our life. 
Goods, fame, child and wife ; 
When their worst is done. 
They yet have nothing won. 
The kingdom ours remaineth. 

He then hid himself in the mill at Kaernau, disguised as a miller's 
servant. But in the year 1550 he was restored to his possessions by 
the peace of Passau, to the great joy of his friends and subjects. 

Gods word s.nA faith are married together ; neither one shall be 
divorced from the other. 

Cast not thy Christianity away on account of many sufferings. 
Do not be like that monkey, who threw the whole nut away, because 
he tasted the bitter rind around it. 

A pious man, who had encouraged a brother, weak in the faith, 
was asked by him, where he had obtained such a strong faith, and 
replied, ' ' I have the word, hand and seal of my God. His word I 
have in the Holy Scriptures ; his hand in his works, and his seal in 
my heart, through the testimony of the Holy Spirit, that I am a child 
of God. Why, then, should I not believe and have full confidence ? ' ' 

If you would say to a carpenter, when he cuts into the wood with 
his sharp axe, ' ' Oh, how you spoil that beautiful wood ; " he would 
say, "Oh, you are a child, you do not understand; this is done in 
order, that a more beautiful house may be made out of it. ' ' Strange 
beginning, glorious end. 

On earth, as it is in heaven God's will is done in heaven by the 
holy angels and saints, for their happiness consists in doing the will 
of God. Bless the Lord, ye his angels that excel in strength, that do 
his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word. Bless ye 
the Ivord, all ye, his hosts, ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure. 
Psalm ciii. 20, 21. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 1 95 

A woman in Holstein lived very happily with her husband in the 
married life. But her husband took sick and died. The widow was 
greatly distressed and wept much. She had an aged mother, who one 
day came to a house, where the people did not know much about 
religion, and they asked her, how her daughter was coming on ? The 
old mother replied, that it was going better with her daughter now, 
than at first, " She has now given in her will to the death of her hus- 
band." When the old mother had gone, the people laughed at her 
remark, saying, ' ' Why, she had to give her will to the death of her 
husband ! ' ' But what did the old mother really mean ? She meant, 
that her daughter now submitted to God's will in this dispensation of 
his providence, believing, that all things work together for our good. 

When Francis Xavier came, as a missionary to Japan, he found 
some European merchants there, who had preceded him to that 
country, and exclaimed, ' ' I feel ashamed, that these merchants, for 
the sake of worldly gains, have come to Japan sooner than I did, for 
the sake of eternal gain." 

In a con\ersation between St. Augustine and his friends, the 
question was asked, ' ' Is not that person fortunate who has what he 
desires?" To which Monica, his mother, replied, " If he wishes and 
has that which is good, he is fortunate ; but when he wishes that 
which is bad, he is miserable, even if he has it." 

A savage, who hated a native Christian, by the name of Gideon, 
met him one day, and pointed his gun at him, saying, ' ' Now you must 
die, because you are always talking of Jesus." Gideon replied, "If 
Jesus is not willing, you cannot kill me." The savage was deterred, 
took his gun down, and went away without saying a word. 

WHEN GOD FRUSTRATES EVERY EVII, COUNSEI/ AND PURPOSE, ETC. 
Scriptural Examples. The builders of the Tower of Babel, Gen. 
xi. 6-8 ; With Pharaoh, Bx. iii. 19, 20 ; With Israel, Ex. xvi. 28, 29 ; 
With Balaam, Num. xxii. 22-35 ; xxiii. 12-20 ; With Nebuchadnezzar, 
Dan. iii. 23, etc.; With the Counsellors of Darius, Dan. vi.; With the 
Pharisees, John ix. ; With Herod, Acts xii. 3, etc. 

A certain infidel had declared himself a despiser of the christian 
religion, and had openly attacked Christianity in his published writings. 
Just as he was reading one of his infidel articles to a friend, he was 
called away to his daughter's deathbed. His friend accompanied him 
to the chamber of death. As the infidel stood by the bed of his daugh- 
ter, whose mother had instructed her in the christian religion, she 
said to him, ' ' Father, I feel that I must die ; will you please to tell 



196 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

me now, in whicli faith I shall die ? Shall I die in that belief which 
you have taught me ; or shall I die in that faith which my mother has 
taught me ? ' ' After a moments reflection, he replied, * ' Believe that 
which your mother has taught you ! " 

A chief of the Bushmans in South Africa, who had become a 
christian, held a prayer meeting. Just as his people were assembled 
and engaged in worship, a hord of wild savages entered. The chief 
intermitted the prayer meeting, went out to meet them, and asked 
what they wanted. "We want your lives or your cattle," replied the 
robbers. " Take our cattle," said the chief, and resumed his prayer- 
meeting. The robbers were amazed, drew near as they heard him 
pray ; their hearts were impressed, and they turned away without 
taking a single head of his cattle. 

A Hindoo, who was being instructed before baptism, related to 
the missionary, that he had previously, in company with other heathen 
people, heard him preach, and then only laughed at his words. But after- 
wards many misfortunes had befallen him, namely, deaths in his family, 
then he remembered the words which he had heard, and became very 
much concerned by the thought, that he might possibly, some day, by 
a sudden death, be called into the presence of God. 

When Trouchin, the physician of the Duke of Orleans, was sent 
to the old scoffer, Voltaire, ordered to attend to him in his last sick- 
ness, Voltaire said to him, ' ' Dear doctor, I wish that you could save 
my life ; I will give you the half of my possessions, if you can add six 
months to the length of my life. If not, then I go to the devil, and 
will take you along with me." 

The pious Amelia Dale learned to read, when she was sixty-six 
years old, in order that she might be able to read the Bible herself. 
And, poor as she was, she gave a little girl a shilling a week, that she 
should come to her cottage and teach her, until she was able to attend 
a school for grown people, which was established in her village. 

WHKN HB STRKNGTHENS US AND KKBPS US STEADFAST. 

Scriptural Examples. Noah, Gen. ix. 12-17 ; Jacob, Gen. xxxii. 
I, 2 ; Samuel, i Sam. xii. 23 ; Elijah, i Kings xix. 18 ; Shadrach, 
Meshach and Abednego, Dan. iii. 16-28 ; Daniel, Dan. vi. 16-22 ; 
Simeon, I^uke ii. 29, 30 ; The Apostles, lyuke xvii. 5 ; lyuke xxii. 42, 43. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 1 9/ 

Dr. Jolm George Knapp, Professor of Theology in Halle, who died 
in 1771, was in the practice of turning everything that he read in the 
Bible, or any other edifying book, or any subject on^which he had 
thought, into a prayer, whereby the impressions, which the truth had 
made on his heart, were made more blessed and permanent. 

When the news arrived at Wittenberg, that the Pope had put 
Ivuther in the ban, that is, declared him an outlaw, whom everyone 
was commanded to put to death, Luther went into the garden, and 
began to sing. He was asked, whether he had not heard the report ? 
"That does not concern me," said IvUther, "but it concerns our lyord 
Jesus Christ ? Will he permit himself to be cast down from the right 
hand of God, and let his church be overthrown ? Let him see to that ? 
I am much too weak to defend him and his cause against the prince of 
this world." 

Frederick II., King of Denmark, who died 1588, commanded, that 
at his departure from this world, the following scripture verses should 
be read to him : ' ' God so loved the world, that he gave his only be- 
gotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but 
have everlasting life." John iii. 16. Then, " Unto thee, O Lord, do I 
lift up my soul." Psalm xxv. i. And finally, "Bless the Lord, O 
my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name." Psalm ciii. i. 
This was done when the hour of his departure had come. The king 
heard these passages with great joy, and as the reader came to the 
verse in Psalm ciii. 13, "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the 
Lord pitieth them that fear him, ' ' he said, ' ' That is true, ' ' and expired. 

The Dutchess Agnes, of Witgenstein, reflected on her sickbed, on 
the marriage of Cana, how the Lord there had made a difference be- 
tween Mary's hour and his hour. "Thus," said the sick lady, "flesh 
and blood prefers the Mary's hour, because we mortals wish that Jesus 
should come soon and do miracles to help us out of our troubles. But 
we must patiently await Christ's hour, and that is what I intend to do. ' ' 

THE FOURTH PETITION. 

2/f.§. What is the Fourth Petition f 

Give us this day our daily bread. 

24.6. What is the meaning of this petition ? 

God bestows, indeed, unasked, the necessaries and 
conveniences of life, even upon the wicked ; 



IgS ILLUSTRATED CATECHTSM. 

But in this petition we pray that he would make us 
sensible of his mercies, and enable us to receive them with 
thanksgiving. 

2^7. What is understood by " our daily bread'' ? 

Everything necessary to the support and comfort of 
existence; such as 

1. Food arid raiment, house and land, money and 
goods : 

2. A kind spouse, good children, faithful servants, 
righteous magistrates ; 

3. Good weather, peace, health, instruction, honor, 
true friends, good neighbors, and the like. 

2/J.8. What do we pray for in general in this petition ? 
In this petition we pray in general for the bestowment 
of all temporal blessings. 

THE MEANING OF THE WORDS. 

^^p. What is meant by the word " bread'''' ? 

By the word " bread " is meant all those things which are 
necessary to the support of our lives, of which eating and 
drinking are the most essential. 

2^0. What is meant by " our bread'' ? 

By the words " our bread " is meant, 

1. That which is necessary to our preservation; 

2. Which we have honestly earned, and 

Genesis iii. 19. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till 
thou return unto the ground ; for out of it wast thou taken : for dust 
thou art^ and unto dust shalt thou return. 

3. Which has not been stolen, or gained by fraud, or 
unnecessary begging. 

I Thessalonians iv. 11. And that ye study to be quiet, and to do 
your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we com- 
manded you. 

2^1. What is ineant by our " daily bread" ? 

By our "daily bread " is meant all things necessary to our 

daily wants. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 1 99 

2^2. What is meant by the words, " give us " ? 
In these words is embraceH the prayer that 

1. God would provide for us as our true and faithful 

Father ; 

Psalm cxlv. 15. The eyes of all wait upon thee ; and thou givest 
them their meat in due season. 

Psalm cxiv. 16. Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire 
of every living thing. 

2. Bless us in the enjoyment of his bounties; 

Psalm cvii. 9. For he satisfieth the longing soul, and fiUeth the 
hungry soul with goodness. 

3. Also bless our labors for their attainment; 

Psalm cxxi. i. I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from 
whence cometh my help. 

Psalm cxxi. 2. INIy help cometh from the Lord, which made 
heaven and earth. 

4. That our health may be preserved ; 

5. That we may be defended from injustice and fraud; 

6. That our conscience may be kept pure, and 

7. That we may be encouraged to benevolence. 
^53- What is implied in the words, " this day'' ? 
By these words is implied, 

1. That we do not ask for God's provisions far off in 
the future ; 

2. That we should not be anxiously concerned about 
our future support ; 

3. But confidently leave all to the Providence of God, 
who has for so long a time provided for all our wants. 

THE APPLICATION. 

^5</. What is the application of this petition ? 
The application of this petition is 

1. That we recognize our daily bread as the gift of 
God; 

I Corinthians iv. 7 For who maketh thee to differ from another? 
and what hast thou that thou didst not receive ? now if thou didst 
receive z7, why dost thou glor}% as if thou hadst not received it ? 

2. That we partake of God's bounty with thankful 
hearts ; 



200 ILLUSTRATEE) CATECHISM. 

3. That we devote the strength which we derive from 
our food and drink to his service. 

^55. Who pray this petition to their own condemnation? 

1. All avaricious and miserly people, who wish to 
store up many goods for many years ; 

2. All thieves, defrauders and unnecessary beggars, 
who do not eat the bread which they have honestly earned, 
but unjustly eat the bread of their neighbors, pray this peti- 
tion to their own condemnation. 

KXPI^ANATORY NOTKS. 

This petition is for our daily bread, and refers to our welfare in a 
temporal sense. It teaches us — 

I. That temporal things afe God s gifts, i Chron. xxix. 14, 16. 
II. That they may be sought in prayer Gen. xxviii. 20. 

III. That we may pray for a competent portion of the good things of 

this tife. This implies all that is necessary to provide for our 
wants. He has promised this in his Word. Isa. xxxiii. 15, 16. 

IV. That we may daily pray for this. We are daily dependent on 

God's care. We are not to be over anxious of the future. We 
may not boast of tomorrow. Prov. xxvii. i. 
V. That we should seek God's blessing on temporal gifts. Prov. x. 
22. God's blessing can elevate and sanctify the least temporal 
benefit. 

1.KSSONS. 

1. Temporal wants should lead us to God. 

2. The bread of life is God's gift for our souls. — Steele. 

The word bread includes everything, which man needs, or is neces- 
sary to the support or preservation of life, in order to enjoy it with 
pleasure and safety. For instance, good government ; that is, in the 
family and in the country. Yet we should also think of food for the 
spirit and the soul ; it includes all that man requires for his body, soul 
and spirit. But wft shall pray only for daily bread, because we should 
not pray for riches, abundance or luxury, but should be satisfied with 
the necessaries of life, i Tim. vi. 6-8 ; Prov. xxx. 8 ; Prov. xvii. i. 

The word our signifies, that we should not eat other people's or 

stolen bread, but our own, honestly earned bread. 2 Thess. iii. 10-12. 

The word give, reminds us, that we do not have our daily bread 

of ourselves, or obtain it through our own ingenuity, but must ask it 

from God. Psalm cxxvii. 1,2; cxxviii. 2. When God permits unbe- 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 201 

lieving persons to become rich, we should not be offended. Read Ps. 
Ixxiii. Like Dives, they receive their good ftiings in this world. On 
the other hand, pious people are often poor, because in the end it is 
better for them. Riches are more dangerous to piety than poverty. 

The word us indicates that we should also cheerfully help others. 
I Tim. V. 8 ; Heb. xiii. i6. 

The words this day teaches us to depend upon God every day, 
and to drive away cares. Matt. vi. 34 ; Luke xii. 16-21. — Muehe. 

ANECDOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

WHAO^ IS MEANT BY DAILY BREAD ? 

Scriptural Examples. Hagar, Gen. xxi. 15, 16 ; Israel, Ex. xvii. 
1-3 ; Ahab, i Kings xxi. 4-7 ; John, Luke vii. 33 ; The rich man, Luke 
xii. 16-21 ; Jesus the True Bread, John vi. 32-35 ; 48-58. 

In the fourth petition, (which is, give us this day our daily bread,) 
we pray, that of God's free gift we may receive a competent portion of 
the good things of this life, and enjoy his blessing w^ith them. — 
Shorter Catechism. 

' ' God has so constituted his providence that man is at all times 
dependent on his Maker for the comforts, and the very necessaries of 
life. God could no doubt have placed mankind in a different constitu- 
tion of things, where praise, and not prayer, would have been the be- 
fitting exercise. Situated as he is, he is constrained to feel a sense of 
dependence; and of that feeling prayer is a suitable expression." — 
Dr. M'Cosh. 

Prayer is by some restricted to spiritual things ; but Christ in his 
direction teaches us to seek daily bread for food. He does not teach 
that men should ask for it without industry or the use of means. The 
ordinary providence of God show^s that our daily bread comes to us by 
toil and the proper use of means. Yet the Savior linked us to God in 
this by a feeling of dependence. 

" This is apparently one of the smallest, yet one of the greatest, 
petitions. 

1. Smallness of the petition. We ask what most men already 
possess ; we ask it only for the small circle of those around our table ; 
we ask only daily bread ; w^e ask it only for to-day. 

2. Greatness of the petition. We ask that earthly bread should 
be converted into heavenly manna ; we ask that he would feed all those 
who are in want ; w^e ask that he would meet the daily requirements 
of a waiting world ; w^e ask it to-day, and ever again to-day." — Dr, 
Lange. 



202 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

Lange also says, this is a grace before meals in its widest sense ; a 
prayer of the husbandman ; a prayer for our ordinary calling ; a praye.r 
for our daily work ; a prayer in our distress ; and a prayer in all our 
earthly wants. It is also a grace before meals in its most restricted 
sense. 

Matthew Henry says, every word here has a lesson in it : — 

1. We ask for bread — that teaches us sobriety and temperance. 
We ask for breads not dainties or superfluities — that which is whole- 
some though it be not nice. 

2. We ask for our bread— that teaches us honesty and industry. 
We do not ask the bread out of other people's mouths ; not the bread 
of deceit, but the bread honestly gotten. 

3. We ask for our daily bread — which teaches us not to take 
thought for the morrow, but constantly to depend on Divine Provi- 
dence, as those that live from hand to mouth. 

4. We beg of God to give to us, not sell it or lend it us, but give 
it. The greatest of men must be beholden to God for their daily 
bread. 

5. We pray. Give it to us — not to me only, but to others in com- 
mon with me. This teaches us charity and a passionate concern for 
the poor and needy. It intimates, also, that we ought to pray with our 
families. We and our households eat together, and therefore ought to 
pray together. 

6. We pray that God would give it to us this day — which teaches 
us to renew the desire of our souls towards God as the wants of our 
bodies are renewed. As duly as the day comes we must pray to our 
heavenly Father, and reckon we could as well go a day without meat 
as without prayer. 

A traveller, overtaken in a storm, sought shelter in a dilapidated 
and lonely dwelling. Before entering, however, he looked through 
one of the gaping crevices, and saw a woman seated at a table on 
which was placed a .coarse and scanty meal. Her hands and eyes 
were uplifted. Her lips moved ; and as he listened he heard her say, 
''^ All this^ a7id Jesus Christ too ! " 

Professor Francke relates that at one time all his provision was 
spent ; ' ' But in addressing myself, ' ' says he, ' * to the Lord, I found 
myself deeply affected with the fourth petition of the Lord's prayer. 
Give us this doy our daily bread ; and my thoughts were fixed in a 
more especial manner, upon the words, this day, because on the very 
same day we had great necessity for it. While I was yet praying, a 
friend of mine came before my door in a coach, and brought the sum 
of 400 crowns. ' ' 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 2O3 

A pious woman used to say, she should never want, because her 
God would supply her ever}^ need. In a time of persecution, she was 
taken before an unjust judge, for attending a conventicle, as they styled 
her oflfense ; the judge on seeing her, rejoiced over her, and tauntingly 
said, ' ' I have often wished to have you in my power, and now I shall 
send you to prison, and then how will you be fed? " She replied, " If 
it be m}' heavenly Father's pleasure, I shall be fed from your table." 
And that was literally the case ; for the judge's wife being present at 
her examination, and being greatly struck M-ith the good woman's 
firmness, took care to send her victuals from her table, so that she 
was comfortablj^ supplied all the while she was in confinement ; and 
the judge's ^\dfe found her reward, for the Lord was pleased to work 
on her soul, to her real conversion. 

' ' Through each perplexing path of life 
Our wand 'ring footsteps guide ; 
Give us each day our daily bread. 
And raiment fit provide ''—Doddridge. 

It is something great to have the word of God and a piece of 
bread. — Ger. Proverb. 

The Germans call the bread, " das Hebe Brod,^'' the dear bread, 
and when a piece of bread falls to the ground or floor, they reverently 
take it up, and kissing it, say, ' ' We must not tread the dear bread 
under foot ' ' 

A poor servant, who had a wife and children to support, was once 
reduced to such distress, that, with the concurrence of his wife, he 
went to his master's flock, and brought home a lamb, which was 
killed, and a part of it dressed, and set on the table The next thing 
to be done before their hunger could be relieved, was to ask a blessing 
on the food. The poor man's heart was filled with anguish. How 
could he ask a blessing from God on the fruit of unrighteousness ? 
Tears gushed from his eyes. He rose ; he went directly to his master, 
told him what he had done and implored his forgiveness. His master 
knew him to be not only a sober and industrious, but an honest and 
well-disposed man, and, that nothing but the greatest straits, could 
have tempted him to be guilty of what he had done. After a 
suitable admonition, he assirred him of his hearty forgiveness, told 
him that he was welcome to w^hat he had got, and that he should not 
be disappointed in any future application which he might find it nec- 
essarj" to make to him, for the supply of his wants. The servant 
returned home with joy ; and with his family, he ate that food which 
was now his own, with gladness, and praised the Lord. 



204 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

Mr. C. Winter observes, that in a time when he was destitute, and 
knew not where to look for a supply, he received a letter, of which 
the following is a copy, and which he kept, as he said, to record the 
kind providence of the Lord. "Dear and Rev. Sir, I enclose you 
twenty pounds, as I suppose your purse may be low. I commend you 
to the grace and love of Jesus ; may he long shine upon you, and bless 
you. My dear friend, ^^our's affectionately, J. Thornton." 

That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven : 
for he maketh his sun to shine on the evil and on the good, and send- 
eth rain on the just and on the unjust. Matt. v. 45. 

Ivuther says in one of his sermons, that he does not believe, there 
are as many sheaves on the harvest fields, as there are people living in 
the world, and yet all are fed, which is to be attributed to the power 
of the grace of God. 

It is recorded of the emperor, Frederick III. , that when he held a 
diet of the empire, a great multitude of people were present, and he 
was apprehensive, there would not be food enough to supply them all. 
Therefore, he gave orders that on a certain day the whole number of 
loaves of bread, and the whole number of persons that were present, 
should be counted ; and there was found to be on hand for every four 
or five persons, one penny worth of bread. On the following day he 
had a very careful investigation made, whether any persons had suf- 
fered or died from hunger. On this the answer was given, that every 
one had enough to eat, and a good portion of" provision was yet left over. 
From this we see, that God still works miracles, as well as thousands 
of years ago. 

Boetius, a distinguished nobleman, noticed on one occasion that 
some one had arisen- from the table before the meal was over, and 
grace had been said, and said to him, " Dear, sir, do not act like the 
traitor Judas, who arose from the Holy Supper as soon as he had 
received the sop into his mouth, and went out to sell and betray Jesus. ' ' 

You may think your children are eating with you ; but, behold, 
you are eating with them. — Ger. Proverb. 

The ancients relate a beautiful history. They say, ' ' At the begin- 
ning of the creation the ears of the wheat grew from the ground up to 
the very top, and the stem was nowhere visible. But after man had 
fallen into sin, God had begun to strip off the whole ear, but in con- 
sideration of the poor little children, he permitted the ears to stand at 
the top ; and thus, we older people can eat with the children. ' ' 

When God blesses a country, he gives it a wise ruler, and a long 
peace. — <9<?r. Proverb. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 205 

The emperor, Augustus, used to say, ' ' The best war is like a 
golden fish-hook ; it seldom yields as much as it costs. ' ' 

A pious prince used to say, ' ' When this snow melts, ' ' pointing to 
his gra}^ hair, " I fear there will be much mud in the country." And 
this came true. After his death, bad times came on. 

Health. Health is rightly appreciated, only when we are sick. — 
Ger. Proverb. 

He that is well does not know how rich he is. — Ger. Pioverb. 

Better a healthy beggar, than a sick king. — Ger. Proverb. 

Good friends. One enemy is too much ; a thousand friends are 
too few. — Ger. Proverb. 

Good neighbors. A good neighbor is a jewel. — Get. Proverb. 

A polish nobleman was fatally wounded in war. King Ladislaus 
asked him, sympathetically, whether he had much pain ? He replied, 
' ' Yes, but not near as much as I often suffered at home from my bad 
neighbors. ' ' 

The way to heaven is easier, if we have not much to drag along. 
Ger. Proverb. 

He who lives in a low estate need not fear a fall from a great 
height.— (9^/'. Proverb 

' ' What great reason have you to thank God ? ' ' said a rich man to 
his poor neighbor, who was a weaver. ' ' Every evening you sing 
thanks to him, while your trade don't bring 5'ou much gain, and you 
have a large family ; you must have scant fare sometimes. " " That is 
true," said the weaver, "but as regards our thanksgiving, the case is 
as follows : For what we have we thank God, because it does us good, 
and for what we do not have, we also thank God, because we do not 
need it." 

The Rabbis say. He that receives a single benefit of this world, 
without thankfulness, is like one who has robbed God. 

My house is my castle. — Englishman" s Proverb. 

At home I am king. — Ger. Proverb. 

Well-doing children are the staff of their parents. — Ger. Proverb. 

He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord ; and that 
which he hath given will he pay him again. Prov. xix. 17. 

When Themistocles sold his residence, he proclaimed this as one 
of its recommendations : "It has excellent neighbors. ' ' 



206 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

When Dr. Ziegler, a learned man, left the monastery, and ac- 
cepted the gospel, he prayed God to give him an honorable office and 
about 40 dollars, in order that he might serve God and man honorably, 
and make an honest living. This was granted. But when he got 
married, this would not suffice for his support, and he prayed for 60 
dollars. This also was granted. Then came a famine into the land, 
and he prayed for 100 dollars. God also granted him this petition. 
But after he became old, the amount was again insufficient. Then he 
came to God, and said, " My dear Father in heaven, I have read of 
Abraham, that for a number of times he prayed to thee, and thou didst 
graciously hear and answer him. This I also have done. O do thou 
not be angry with me, and I will speak once more. Give me what I 
need, and I shall have enough for all times, and I will not prescribe 
anything more to thee. ' ' Upon this the Lord granted him annually 
150 dollars. When the noble Elector of Saxony heard, that good old, 
Dr Ziegler had prayed thus, he said, ' ' He shall not eat dry bread in 
his old age, but he shall also have a cup of comfort {Labe Trank),^^ and 
granted him 200 dollars in addition. 

The distinguished pastor, Oberlin, had almost constantly boys in 
his boarding school. One of these boys, observing Oberlin's simple 
mode of living, remarked, boastingly, ' ' My father lives in a different 
style ! ' ' Oberlin asked him, ' ' How many coats does your father put 
on?" "One," was the answer. "Well, so do I," replied Oberlin. 
' ' And how long does he continue to eat ? " " Until he . is satisfied. ' ' 
" Well, I do the same, also." 

A little girl 5 or 6 years old, who had a pious mother and an unbe- 
lieving father, said to him, " Father, do you pray ? Father, why don't 
you pray ? Mother prays, and prays for you, too, and weeps for you. 
Do it, father, and pray also for me." The father, who is now a pious 
Christian, said, later, "This was the arrow that pierced my heart, and 
caused me to stand still, examine my heart and seek the Savior." 

A dying father caused a bundle of arrows to be handed to his sons, 
requesting them to try which one of them could break it. But when 
not one of them was found strong enough to break the combined bun- 
dle, he ordered it to be untied, and gave a single arrow to each one of 
his sons, and soon they were all broken in two. Then said the father, 
' ' My dear sons, there are many of you, and you are poor, but if you 
combine and hold together, there will be no trouble. But if you per- 
mit yourselves to be separated, then one after the other of you will 
easily be overcome." 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 20/ 

A missionary in India examined the scholars in a Christian mis- 
sion school on the Scripture passage, ' ' Pray without ceasing. " (i Xhess. 
V. 17). He asked the question: "Is there anyone here who prays 
without ceasing? " A small Brahmin boy arose and said, " I do sir ! " 
"Very well, what do you say, when you pray? " "I say, Lord Jesus, 
be merciful to me, and save my soul ! " 

Poor old Hugo Bourne was asked by a friend, if he were in any 
need. "O," said he, smiling, "I have already partaken of three 
meals to-day ; one when I awoke this morning, another when I arose, 
and I have had a third one since ; ought I not to be satisfied and 
thankful ? ' ' But he meant spiritual food ; for, although it was now 
eleven o'clock in the forenoon, he had not yet eaten any breakfast. 

OUR BREAD. 

Scriptuial Examples. Adam, Gen. iii. 19 ; The Israelites, Joshua 
V. II, 12 ; Peter, Luke v. 5 ; Paul, Acts xx. 34, 35 ; Abraham, Gen. 
xviii. I 8 ; Reuel, Bx. ii. 20 ; Boaz, Ruth ii. 8, 9, 14-17 ; The widow 
and Elijah, i Kings xvii. 10-16 ; Blisha, 2 Kings iv. 42-44 ; The Corin- 
thiari^ and the poor Christians in Jerusalem, 2 Cor. viii., ix. ; The 
Thessalonians, i Thess. iv. 9-12 ; Nabal, i Sam. xxv 11. 

In the town of Anklam, Pomerania, a travelling journeyman, 
stood at the door of a house and asked for something to eat. As no 
one answered his call, he entered the house and found there a sick 
woman, who said to him, "I have nothing that I could give you." 
He departed, but after a few hours he returned The woman called to 
him again, "I can give you nothing ; I have nothing myself." But 
the noble ^^outh thought, " For that very reason I have come again." 
He stepped up to the table, and laid much bread upon it, and many 
small pieces of money, which he had collected from many persons. 
"With a smile, he said, "These are for you, poor, sick woman." Then 
he softly closed the door, and departed again. The woman was the 
widow of a military officer by the name of Laroque, but the name of 
that noble young man is recorded by an angel for another occasion. 

A strange brother came to the aged father, Sylvanus, at the mon- 
astery of Mount Sinai, and when he saw that the brothers worked, he 
said, " Why labor ye for food that perishes? But Mary hath chosen 
the better part. ' ' On this the Superior said to one of the brothers, 
" Give him a book, that he may read, and take him to an empty cell, 
where he may remain." When it was about three o'clock in the 
afternoon, the stranger looked down the road, to see whether the 
Superior would come and call him to dinner. But the meal time 



208 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

passed away, and he came not." Then the stranger could endure it no 
longer, but went to the Superior, and asked him, ' ' Father, did the 
brothers have nothing to eat to-day?" "Yes, indeed, they have 
eaten." " But you did not call me to dinner." "You should not 
think strange of this," said the Superior, "for you are a spiritual 
man, and have no need for material food, which we, who have bodies 
of flesh, still need, and therefore we labor. But you, who have chosen 
the better part, will be able to enjoy yourself the whole day with read- 
ing, without partaking of material food." Then the stranger came to 
himself, and said, " Pardon me, father," and Sylvanus replied, "Mary 
hath need of Martha, and Mary is praised on account of Martha." 

GIVE US THIS DAY. 

Scriptural Examples Jacob, Gen. xxviii. 20-22 ; The Israelites 
and the manna, Bx. xvi., xvii.; Samson, Judges xv. 18, 19; Elijah, 
I Kings xvii. 1-6; The people in Samaria, 2 Kings vii.; Christ feeding 
the 5000, Matt. xiv. 14-21 ; John vi. 1-7 ; 4000 with seven loaves. Matt. 
XV. 32-38 ; Mark viii. 1-9 ; Paul, i Cor. iii. 5, etc.; The disciples. Matt. 
X. 10 ; Mark vi. 8. , 

God tries, but does not forsake his people Many years ago, there 
lived in Bohemia a poor laboring man, who had no employment, but 
he had a pious, believing wife. The husband was compelled to go on 
a journey, and leave his wife and child alone: Soon she had nothing 
to eat, and yet was ashamed to beg. For a whole day she fasted with 
her child, and had to go to bed hungry. Also on the second day she 
had nothing to eat, and her child cried for bread. The mother fell 
upon her knees, and prayed, and was strengthened to believe, that the 
Lord would help. Yet the help did not come, and mother and child 
had again to go to bed hungry. The child cried and could not be 
quieted. This agonized the heart of the mother, and she importuned 
with God in prayer, and obtained again a comforting assurance, that 
the lyord would send deliverance. But again the third day, she was 
compelled to retire without relief. But during the night a friend had 
a dream^ in which she saw the extreme distress of the mother and her 
child. She arose before daylight, gathered up different kinds of pro- 
visions, and hastened to the house of the poor woman, which was over 
a mile away, knocked at the door, and called, "Tell me, for God's 
sake, is it true? I dreamed, that you have nothing" to eat." With an 
overflowing heart, and tears of joy, the believing woman was still more 
strengthened in her faith on the Lord, who, indeed, tries his people, 
but never forgets or forsakes them. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 2O9 

In the terrible famine during the year 1771, there lived in Coburg 
a widow and her son, in great destitution. The family had formerly 
not been considered poor, only the famine brought them into distress. 
No one afforded this wndow any assistance, and she herself was ashamed 
to complain of her sad condition to her neighbors. But she knew the 
good Father in heaven, and she and her son prayed to him daily. 
But one day their distress had reached its greatest degree. The dinner 
hour had passed and there was no food yet on the table. Then the 
son walked outside of the town with a heavy heart in order to pour 
out unseen his trouble before God. And as he thus walked along the 
banks of the Itz, he saw several times a fish spring up out of the water, 
and suddenly it jumped on the shore. He quickly secured it, and found 
it to be a trout fish weighing several pounds. He carried it home 
.rejoicing, to his mother. A little salt w^as yet found, and thus their 
hunger was satisfied for several days. 

Fed by a raven. At the close of the 15th century, Mathias 
Dalanscius, one of the Bohemian brethren, was cast into prison on 
account of his faith in Christ, and was in danger of starv^ation. One 
day he obser^^ed a raven on the window of his cell, with a napkin in 
its beak. When the raven flew away, it left the napkin lay. He took 
it up, and found a gold coin in it, with which he induced the keepers 
of the prison to buy him food. 

John Godlob Anger, who afterwards became owner of an ore mine 
in Saxony, while a child, during the remarkable famine years of 1771 
and 1772, was carried by his mother daily to a bakery. Here she left 
him to sit for hours near the warm oven, while she went to work as a 
hireling, in order that he might breathe the nourishing odor of the 
new bread. The compassionate baker woman, who was herself very 
poor, gave him accasionally a few morsels of bread. Thus the child 
was kept alive through the winter, in which so many poor children 
died of hunger. 

When poor Volkmar, of Bisenach, who afterwards became a 
preacher, came home from school at noon and in the evening, and 
asked for something to eat, his mother often had to say to him, ' ' My 
dear Volkmar, I have not yet reeled the yarn which I have spun ; 
when I have done this I will go out and see where I can sell it. Do 
you go up stairs and kneel down and pray to God, that I may find 
some one to buy my yarn. " " Thus, ' ' says Volkmar, ' ' I learned to ask 
God daily for my bread, and my loving Father never left me to suffer 
hunger. 



210 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

This day. While Francke was building the orphan house in 
Halle, he was on one occasion in great want, and prayed the Lord's 
Prayer, laying particular emphasis on the words in the fourth petition, 
this day, because he needed much just then. While he was yet pray- 
ing, some one brought him one hundred dollars. 

The stones must turn into bread. The sainted Professor Koenig, 
of Bern, was remarkably beneficent. At one time he had given away 
so much, that his wife had to complain, that she had no more bread 
or flour in the house. His reply to her complaint was, ' ' Sooner must 
the stones be turned into bread, than that Professor Koenig should die 
of starvation. ' ' This expression of the faithful friend of the poor was 
almost literally fulfilled. Soon after a stranger came and begged the 
Professor to translate a writing for him into the German language. 
After three hours the stranger could come and take the translation 
away with him. The Professor declined to accept compensation for 
this work. But afterwards the stranger ordered a miller to send him 
a bag of flour. The Professor asked the miller the name of the kind 
donor. The answer was, ' ' Von Stein, ' ' ( Van Stone. ) ' ' Do you hear, ' ' 
said the Professor to his wife, ' ' Do you hear this, you unbelieving 
woman ! The stranger's name is Van Stone ! Did I not tell you, 
"* Sooner must the stones be turned into bread, than that Professor Koenig 
should die of starvation. ' " 

KNABI^e us TO RECEIVE OUR DAII,Y BREAD WITH THANKSGIVING. 

Sciip'ure Examplts. Jacob, Gen. xxviii. 21, 22 ; Christ, Mark 
xiv. 8 ; John vi. 11 ; Matt. xv. 36 ; Mark viii. 6, 7 ; Matt, xxvi. 26, 30; 
Paul, Acts xxvii, 35 ; The Israelites, Bx, xvi. 3, 20, 27-36 ; Ex, xvii, 
1-6 ; xxxii. 6 ; The later Israelites, Isaiah i. 3 ; Jer, v, 23, 24. 

On the 9th of June, 1532, Dr. Luther was walking in his garden. 
There had been a severe drought in the land ; no rain had fallen for 
a long time. When he saw that all vegetation had dried up, he pra3^ed 
as follows : ' ' Oh God, thou didst say to king David, that thou art 
nigh to all who call upon thee, all who call upon thee with importun- 
ity. How comes it, then, that thou doest not grant us rain, although 
we have long been praying and crying to thee? Very well, if thou 
givest us no rain, thou wilt give us something better. Peace on earth 
and a small portion of food is still better than a fruitful year, which 
the enemy consumes. But dear heavenly Father, O do thou be pre- 
vailed upon, for the sake of thy dear Son, Jesus Christ, who has said, 
' Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in 
my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.' 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 211 

Now we would have to be ashamed before thine enemies ; to be con- 
tinually preaching this in the churches, if thou wouldst not answer us. 
I know that we cry from our hearts, and long and sigh ; O hear us. 
Good Lord! " Thus did this man talk with God in faith, and his 
prayer was immediately heard and answered. 

A poor young man, who desired to study for the ministry, came 
to a place where he was a stranger, in order to attend the high school. 
But after he was there some time, he took sick, and was for a long 
time confined to his bed. His small amount of money was soon spent 
for doctors' bills and medicine. At last, by God's blessing, he was 
restored to health, and had a strong appetite. But alas, not much 
with which to appease his hunger. On a certain Sunday he sat in his 
room, at noon, without a sixpence in his pocket, and no bread, while 
he was suffering with an intense hunger. All at once he heard a slight 
noise in a corner of his room. He looked carefully in the direction 
whence the sound came, and behold, it was a little mouse, knawing at 
a crust of bread. He approached the place, the mouse crept away, but 
left the crust. This had lain there a long time, and was very dry ; yet 
it was not too mean for the hungry youth. He took it hastily in his 
hand, but would not partake of it without prayer. He therefore laid 
that dry crust on the table, and prayed that God would bless this small 
morsel of food to the strengthening of his body, as if it were a large 
quantity of food. The good Lord heard hig prayer, and yet in a differ- 
ent way from what he had thought, and gave him more food than he 
needed. For before he had finished his prayer, there came the ser- 
vant of a nobleman, who lived in the neighborhood, and had heard of 
the circumstances of the poor student, and brought him three plates 
full of warm food. Then he rejoiced and thanked God anew, who had 
so mercifully helped him in his time of need. 

While Captain Gambler was in Otaheite, a number of natives vis- 
ited him on his ship, where he sometimes invited them to take dinner 
wdth him. When he did this the first time, through an oversight no 
blessing was asked at the table. To his surprise he obser\-ed, that the 
poor natives did not begin to eat. For a long time he did not know 
the reason, until he learned, that they waited till a blessing should be 
asked, and would not eat until this was done. 

THE FIFTH PETITION. 

2^6. What is the Fifth Petition ? 

" And forgive us our tresspasses, as we forgive those 
who tresspass against us." 



212 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

2^y. How is this to be understood ? 

We pray in this petition 

i. That our heavenly Father would not regard our 
sins, nor deny us our requests on account of theni ; 

2. For we are not worthy of anything for which we 
pray, and have not merited it ; 

3. But we pray that he would grant us all things 
through grace, although we daily commit many sins and 
deserve only chastisement ; 

4. We will therefore, on our part, both heartily for- 
give, and also do good to those who may injure or offend us. 

THE MEANING OF THE WORDS. 

2^8. How do the trespasses occur ? 

The trespasses, of which there are many, occur when 
we do not obey God's commands according to the law or 
the gospel, for then we become debtors to God. 

Psalm xl. 12. For innumerable evils have compassed me about : 
mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to 
look up ; they are more than the hairs of mine head : therefore my 
heart faileth me. 

Acts xvi. 30. And brought them out, and said. Sirs, what must I 
do to be saved ? 

Acts xvi. 31. And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, 
and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. 

^59- Wherein do these trespasses consist? 

Our trespasses consist in our refusing or neglecting to 

do, or to suffer anythmg that God requires of us. 

260. Why do we say " our trespasses'' f 

We say " our trespasses " because we ourselves have 
committed them, as disobedient children against their loving 
Father, which we cannot deny, and therefore make ourselves 
responsible for them. 

Bzekiel xviii. 20. The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son 
shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear 
the iniquity of the son : the righteousness of the righteous shall be 
upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 213 

261. Why do we pray '\f or give us'' ? 

By the words " forgive us/* we confess, that, 

I. We ourselves cannot make satisfaction for our past 



sins 



2. For, if we could henceforth perform all the duties 
which we owe to God, we could not make satisfaction for 
our past sins ; 

I/uke x\di. 10. So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those 
things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants : 
we have done that which was our duty to do. 

3. Because we owe all our powers of body and of 
mind now and always to God ; 

4. Also we pray God to forgive us, because he does^ 
not require satisfaction for our trespasses from us, but from 
another ; namely, the satisfaction which Christ has wrought 
out for us. 

I John ii. 2, And he is the propitiation for our sins : and not for 
our's only, but also for the sins ^'the whole world. 

262. What is meant when we pray, *' As ive forgive 

those who trespass against us'' ? 

In this petition we promise, that 

1. We will hearrtily forgive those who have sinned 
against us, and not avenge ourselves, but patiently endure 
injuries; 

Romans xii. 19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but 
rather give place unto wrath : for it is written, Vengeance is mine ; I 
will repay, saith the Lord. 

2. And that God will forgive us, or treat us just as 
we treat our neighbor ; namely, that he would forgive our 
sins, when we forgive those who have trespassed against 
us ; and on the other hand, that he would not forgive, when 
we do not forgive. 

Matthew vi. 14. For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your 
heavenly Father will also forgive you. 

26^. What is the application of this petition ? 



214 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

We pray in this petition, that 

1. God would not look upon our sins and unworthi- 
ness, nor deny us this prayer, because we are not deserving 

of the least of his mercies ; 

Genesis xxxii. lo. I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, 
and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant ; for 
with my staff I passed over this Jordan ; and now I am two bands. 

2. That God would forgive our sins out of his free 
grace for Christ's sake ; 

3. That this should lead us to reconciliation with 
those who have injured us. 

Matthew xviii. 21. Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how 
oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? 

Matthew xviii. 22, Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, 
Until seven times : but. Until seventy times seven. 

26^. Who pray this petition to their own condemnation ? 
All those pray this petition to their own condem- 
nation, 

1. Who trust for salvation in their own good works ; 

2. Who do not acknowledge themselves to be sinners; 

Luke xviii. 11. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with him- 
self, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, 
unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 

Luke xviii. 12. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that 
I possess. 

3. Also, all revengeful and malicious people, who are 

unwilling to forgive others their faults. 

Mark xi. 25. And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have 
ought against any : that your Father also which is in heaven may for- 
give you your trespasses. 

Mark xi. 26. But if ye do not forgive, neither will y<5ur Father 
which is in heaven forgive your trespasses. 

KXPI^ANATORY NOTKS. 

I. Sin is a debt to the law of God. It is one which we cannot pay. 
We are dependent on God's mercy for our forgiveness. God 
has revealed his mercy : Ex. xxxiv. 6, 7 ; Isa. Iv. 6, 7 ; Micah 
vii. 18. 
II. This petition seeks forgiveness. 

I. We may pray for the pardon of sin, since God has offered to 
forgive us. He only can forgive : lyuke v. 21 ; Rom. 
Tiii. 33. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 21$ 

2. We can pray for it only for Christ's sake. He is the media- 

tor : Eph. i. 7. 

3. We may pray in faith. God has pledged his word. He has 

sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins : i John 
iv. 10. 

4. We may pray for a free pardon. Such God gives : Rom. 

iii. 24, 

5. We may ask a full pardon : Ps. ciii. 1-3 ; i John i. 7. 

III. This petition asserts our willitigness to forgive others. It is a 

duty to forgive those who sin against us. 
We need grace to enable us to forgive others. 

IV. Our forgiveness of others is our encouragement to ask forgive- 

ness for ourselves from God. 

1. God has connected these : Matt. vi. 14, 15. 

2. The example of Christ enforces it : Luke xxiii. 34 ; i Peter 

ii. 23. 

3. We cannot expect forgiveness from God if we have an un- 

forgiving spirit to others : Matt, xviii. 24-35. 

1.ESSONS. 

1. Forgiveness of sins is essential to peace with God. 

2. Let us cultivate a forgiving spirit.— ►SV^<?/. 

The forgiveness of our sins is as necessary as our daily bread 
Without the forgiveness of sins, God must deny us all our other peti- 
tions and leave them unanswered. But because we sin daily, we de- 
serve only punishment. Rom. iii. 23. There are four kinds of sins : 

1. Sins of thought ; 

2. Sins of words; 

3. Sins of actions ; and 

4. Sins of omission. 

Sins have also been divided into pardonable and unpardonable ; 
that is, such as extinguish the spiritual life entirely, and cause eternal 
death. 

Therefore we must pray daily for forgiveness ; but God wall not 
forgive us, unless we have a forgiving heart towards those who have 
tresspassed against us. If we do not forgive those who have injured 
us, God will not forgive us. Matt. vi. 14, 15. Read Matt, xviii. 21, — 
Muehe. 



2l6 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

ANECDOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

AND FORGIVE US —FOR WE DAII.Y SIN. 

Scriptural Examples David, Psalm xix. 13; Psalm li. ; Reho- 
boam, 2 Chron. xii. 12 ; The sinner, Luke vii. 37 ; The Publican, Luke 
xviii. 13 ; The wicked servant, Matt, xviii. 23-27 ; Cain, Gen. iv. 13 ; 
Abimelech, Judges ix 56, 57 ; Abraham, Gen xviii. 23-33 I Moses, Ex. 
xxxii. 11-13 ; Ex. xxxiv. 9 ; Israel, Judges x. 10-17 ; Daniel ix. 5. 

In the fifth petition, (which is. And forgive us our tresspasses as we 
forgive those who tresspass against us,) we pray, That God, for Christ's 
sake, would pardon all our sins ; which we are the rather encouraged to 
ask, because by his grace we are enabled from our heart to forgive 
others. —Shorter Catechism 

" This is the prayer of penitence, ^Forgive us our tresspasses.^ 
I. It realizes sin, and realizes it as a debt. 2. It realizes the burden of sin 
resting on mankind generally. 3. It realizes forgiveness as a free grace 
and a free gift. True penitence appears in the prayer of faith. Assur- 
ances of forgiveness call forth the prayer, ' ' Forgive us. ' Forgiveness 
and readiness to forgive cannot be separated. 

Thefe is a connection hetu'cen the two : i. Forgiveness makes us 
ready to forgive ; 2. Readiness to forgive inspires us with courage to 
seek forgiveness ; 3. The spirit of forgiveness ever joins the two more 
closely together. 

He who cannot forgive tnin cannot find forgiveness with God ; — 
(i.) because he will not believe in forgiving love ; (2 ) because he will 
not act^upon its directions." -Dr. Lange. 

Dr. Cotton Mather was remarkable for the sweetness of his temper. 
He took some interest in the political concerns of his country, and on 
this account, as well as because he faithfully reproved iniquity, he had 
many enemies. Many abusive letters were sent, all of which he tied 
up in a packet, and wrote upon the cover, ' ' Libels : Father forgive 
them." 

A gentleman once asked Sir Eardley Wilmot, Lord Chief-Justice 
of the Court of Common Pleas in England, if he did not think it manly 
to resent an injury which he had recei\ed from a person in a high 
political position. "^ Yes," said the judge, "it will be manly to resent 
it, but it will be Godlike to forgive it. ' ' The gentleman felt the obser- 
vation, and went home in a different temper from that in which he 
came. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 21/ 

The Marquis of Argyle, who suffered death in the reign of Charles 
II., on whose head he had put the crown of Scotland at Scone, was 
employed on the morning of the day of his execution in settling his 
worldly affairs. Under the influence of a sensible effusion of spiritual 
joy, he said to those about him, ' ' I am now ordering my affairs, and 
God is sealing my charter to a better inheritance, and just now saying 
to me, ' Son, be of good cheer ; thy sins are forgiven thee.' " Having 
with great cheerfulness dined with his friends, he retired a little. 
Upon his opening the door, the Rev. Mr. Hutchison said, "What 
cheer, my lord?" He replied, "Good cheer. The Lord has again 
confirmed, and said to me from heaven, ' Thy sins be forgiven thee.' " 

" Consider this, — 
That, in the course of justice, none of us 
Should see salvation : we do pray for mercy ; 
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render 
The deeds of mercy. ' ' 
" How shalt thou hope for mercy, rendering none? " 

— Shakespeare. 

When Tetzel was at Leipsic, and had collected a great deal of 
money from all ranks of people, a nobleman, who suspected the im- 
position, put the question to him : " Can you grant absolution for a sin 
which a man shall intend to commit in future ? " " Yes, ' ' replied the 
frontless commissioner, ' ' but on condition that the proper sum of 
money be actually paid down." The nobleman instantly produced 
the sum demanded ; and in return, received a diploma, sealed and 
signed by Tetzel, absolving him from the unexplained crime, which 
he secretly intended to commit. Not long after, when Tetzel was 
about to leave Leipsic, the nobleman made inquiry respecting the 
road he would probably travel, waited for him in ambush at a conve- 
nient place, attacked and robbed him ; then beat him soundly with a 
stick, sent him back again to Leipsic with his chest empty, and at part- 
ing said, ' ' This is the fault I intended to commit, and for which I 
have your absolution. ' ' 

A poor little African Negro, only ten years of age, went to hear 
the preaching of one of the missionaries, and became through his in- 
strumentality, a convert to the Christian religion. His master, (an 
inveterate enemy to missions, ) hearing of it, commanded him never to 
go again, and declared he would have him whipped to death if he did- 
The poor little boy in consequence of this mandate, was very misera- 
ble. He could scarcely refrain from going, yet he knew his death was 
inevitable if he did. In this critical situation, he sought direction ajid 



2l8 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

assistance at the throne of grace, and after having done this, he felt 
convinced that it was still his duty to attend, but to be careful that he 
should never interfere with his master's business, and, for the rest, to 
leave himself in the hands of God. He therefore went, and on his 
return, was summoned to his master's presence ; and after much vio- 
lent and abusive language, received five-and-twenty lashes, and then 
in a sarcastic tone of blasphemous ridicule, his master exclaimed, 
* ' What can Jesus Christ do for you now ? " " He enables me to bear 
it patiently," said the poor child. " Give him five-and-twenty lashes 
more," said the inhuman wretch. He was obeyed. "And what can 
Jesus Christ do for you now ? ' ' asked the unfeeling monster. * ' He 
helps me to look forward to a future reward, ' ' replied the little sufferer. 
* ' Give him five-and-twenty lashes more, ' ' vociferated the cruel tyrant, 
in a transport of rage. They complied ; and while he listened with 
savage delight to the extorted groans of his dying victim, he again 
demanded, ' ' What can Jesus Christ do for you now ? ' ' The youthful 
martyr, with the last effort of expiring nature, meekly answered, * * He 
enables me to pray for you, massa." And instantly breathed his last ! 

In a school at Youghall, in the master's accidental absence, one 
boy having been provoked, struck another. On hearing the complaint, 
the master determined to punish the culprit, when the aggrieved boy 
entreated pardon for the offender. On being asked, why he would 
interpose to prevent a just example, he said, "I was reading in the 
New Testament lately, that Jesus Christ said, we should forgive our 
enemies, and I wish to forgive him, and I beg he may not be punished 
for my sake." This Christian plea was too powerful to be resisted. 
The offender was pardoned, and the parent of the poor boy was highly 
pleased at the circumstance. 

Martin Luther and the Roll. After a time of great trial, I^uther 
tells us, he was seeking rest in sleep ; and he saw as sleep came to him 
— in his dream he saw— Satan standing at the foot of his bed. And 
Satan jeeringly said to him: "Martin, thou art a pretty Christian ! 
Hast thou got the impudence to assume that thou art a Christian?" — 
"Yes," said Martin, "I am a Christian, Satan, because Christ has 
allowed me, as any sinner may, to come to him. " " What ! ' ' said 
Satan, "thou a Christian? Martin! See what thou hast done!" 
And Satan took a roll and began to unroll it ; and there at its head 
Martin lyuther saw some sins set down that had passed away in the dim 
distance of childhood. He had forgotton them. Martin sank as it 
struck his sight, but the roll was unrolled, leaf after leaf, foot after 
foot, and to his horror he saw sin after sin of which he remembered 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 219 

nothing any more, written down there, complete in every detail — an aw- 
ful list ; and in his dream, he says, the sweat of mortal agony stood on his 
brow. He thought, " In truth, Satan has got right on his side. Can 
such a sinner as this be just with God ? " He said, " Unroll it ! " and 
Satan jeeringly unrolled it, and Luther thought it would never end. 
At last he came nearly to the end, and in desperation he cried, "Let 
us see the end ! ' ' But, as the last foot of the paper rolled out he caught 
sight of some writing red as blood, at the end, and his eye caught the 
words, " The blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us from all sin." 
And the vision of Satan floated away, and Luther says he went to sleep. 
Ah, yes, dear friends, that is it. The Savior deigns to wash away even 
the unknown defilements of his child's soul. "The blood of Jesus 
Christ, his Son, cleanseth from all sin." 

The sainted John Arndt, author of the True Christianity, was 
very much slandered and persecuted on account of his earnest piety 
and evangelical doctrines. He had the habit of reverently uncovering 
his head and praying, when he heard the words in the hymn, ' ' In thee 
have I put my trust," and "The world has judged me with deceit." 
When asked, why he did so, he replied, " When I hear these words, I 
am always reminded of the grace of my God, which he imparts to me 
by means of mine enemies and slanderers ; for thereby he promotes 
my growth in true Christianity, inasmuch as against their own will, 
my piety, prayers, and devotion are increased, so that I become so 
much more holy and consecrated. ' ' This accords exactly with the words 
of Christ, ' ' Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you and persecute 
you, and shall saj^ all manner of evil against you, falsely, for my sake. 
Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven ; 
for so persecuted the}'- the prophets which were before you. ' ' Matt. 

V. II, 12. 

On the^/z/^ follows immediately \^\^ forgive. — Ger. Proverb. 

A man without forgiveness of sins is like a man who sleeps, while 
his house is burning. 

Over the portal of perdition stands written, ' ' Your deserved re- 
ward ; ' ' Over the gate of heaven, ' ' The grace and mercy of your God. ' ' 

We daily sin. Abraham Buchholzer used to say, " Would to God, 
we were as much dissatisfied with ourselves in life, as we shall be dis- 
satisfied with ourselves, when we come to die, then we would pray the 
fifth petition more deeply from the heart. ' ' 

To the fifth petition we must first bring a heart filled with faith, 
and then also a heart filled with love. 



'220 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

The wise king Alphonsus, of Arragon, (1327-1361) was very angry 
with some of his courtiers, who had become unfaithful to him, and to 
whom he had shown many favors. But soon he came to reflection, 
and said : " O merciful Lord God, thou hast shown me much more 
■kindness ! If thou hadst been thus angry only once at my unthankful 
heart, what would have become of me ? O give me a heart that can 
overlook the ingratitude of the world. ' ' 

Just as a candle burns bright in the darkness, yet not without occas- 
sional smoke, but when the sun shines, is regarded as no light at all, 
so it is with the greatest piety of men in this life, when it is brought 
before the just and holy God. 

A brother had sinned, and the elder in the congregation com- 
manded him to leave the assembly, because he was not worthy hence 
forth to dwell among them. Then the sainted, pious church father, 
Besorean, arose and went out with him, saying, ' ' I beg pardon, my 
brethren ; * / am also a sinner. ' " 

Franciscus Vatelius, king of France, who died in the year 1547, 
came across the words in Psalm cxliii. 2, " O Lord, enter not into 
judgment with thy servant ; for in thy sight shall no man living be 
j-ustified." These words he repeated more than a hundred times. 

Luther once heard his wife scold the servants for some mischief 
they had committed. Luther heard this and said to her, "Dear Katie, 
did you also pray the Lord's Prayer before your sermon ? " 

This petition lays three things upon our hearts : 

1. That we regard and feel our sins as a debt, or tresspass. From 
this flows repentance and sorrow ; and consequently follows, 

2. The prayer for forgiveness. Are you assured in your heart of 
forgiveness, 

3. Then you ynW forgive. 

THEN WE Wllylv AI,SO FORGIVE THOSE WHO HAVE TRESSPASSED 
AGAINST US — HEARTlIyY. 

Scriptural Examples. Moses, Numbers xii. 13 ; David, i Samuel 
xxiv. ; I Samuel xxvi.; 2 Samuel xix. 22, 23 ; Christ, Luke xxiii. 34 ; 
Stephen, Acts vii. 5^ ; Paul, 2 Tim. iv. 16 ; Peter, Matt, xviii. 21, 22. 

A young converted New Zealand woman had been slandered. 
When she found this out, she expressed herself as follows : ' ' Although 
the Jews crucified Christ, yet the gospel was preached to them never- 
theless ; and thus I also hope to pray for those who slandered me, 
and to wish them well." 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 22 I 

On one occasion there came a woman to Halle, who declared, that 
when the church spires would lie down upon the ground, then she would 
lay down her hatred towards her mother-in-law ; for she had treated 
her so badly. On this. Prof. A. H. Francke said to her, "This does 
not surprise me, for I feel sure, you are not able to become reconciled 
to your mother-in-law. That can be possible to you only then, when 
you call on God for forgiving grace. I entreat you, therefore, most 
earnestly, that you promise me to pray to God for a forgiving hearV* 
The woman could not refuse to comply with this request. After a few 
days she came again, and said, ' ' Now I will go and become reconciled 
with my mother-in-law. ' ' She did this ; and when the Professor asked 
her, why she had not sooner sought reconciliation, she replied, ' * You 
often exhorted me to become reconciled, but you never told me how I 
should do it ; you never instructed me that I must pray to God for a 
forgiving heart. ' ' 

A young Monk once came to a pious Abbot, and told him, he was 
going to avenge himself for an injustice that had been done him. 
When the Abbot could not change his mind from his purpose, he said 
to him, " Well, then, let us kneel down and pray." Then he prayed 
as follows : "Eternal, Almighty God, thou art no longer worth any- 
thing to us, and especially to this, my young brother ; for, as he says, 
we shall and must avenge ourselves. Vengeance does no longer be- 
long to thee ! " (Rom, xii 19.) This alarmed the young Monk, and 
he became penitent and reformed. 

An angry nobleman once sent his neighbor, John Brune, word, 
that he and his people should never presume to tread upon his ground or 
premises. Brune sent him word in return, that if he, the nobleman, or 
any of his people, should wish to come upon his ground or premises, 
they would be heartily welcome ; or if they should come into his house, 
he would be still better pleased. This friendly reply overcame the 
pride of the nobleman, and affected him to tears. He came to his 
nighbor and was reconciled to him. 

WE MUST HEARTII<Y FORGIVE AND DO GOOD TO THOSE WHO INJURE US. 

Scriptural Examples. Abraham, Gen. xiii. 8, 9 ; xiv. 14-16 ; Bsau 
and Jacob, Gen. xxxiii. 1-4; Joseph, Gen. 1. 19-21; Samson, Judges 
XV. 5-7 ; Peter, Matt. xxvi. 51 ; The wicked servant, Matt, xviii. 28-35. 

A chaplain in the English Navy, going out to preach on board a 
ship, passed by a vessel where he overheard a quarrel between the 
captain and a sailor. As he did not hear them swear, he concluded, 
that they were Christians, and invited both to come to the preachi ng, 



222 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

and take part in the service. The captain thought he was not in the 
proper state of mind, but the sailor promised to come. As the chap- 
lain arrived on board the ship, on which the service was to be held, 
the captain thought the assembly was yet too small, and rowing out 
with the boat, invited the neighboring captains and sailors, and had 
the satisfaction to induce many to come ; so that the whole cabin was 
filled. Among them came also the captain who had had the quarrel. 
The assembly had just been seated as another man came in ; it was 
the sailor who had been quarreling with his captain. As there was 
not another seat vacant, the captain arose, gave the sailor his own 
seat, and himself stood in a corner. 

In Antioch lived a Greek Presbyter by the name of LapHcius, 
and another Christian by the name of Nicephorus^ who had long 
been the most intimate friends. But on one occasion they fell 
into a dispute, and became so hostile to one another that they would 
not speak to each other. Nicephorus first came to reflection, and sent 
a messenger to the Presbyter with an offer for a reconciliation. But 
as the messenger returned for the second time without an answer, he 
went himself, prostrated himself at the feet of his enemy, and begged, 
" Forgive me, father, for the sake of the Lord." But the Presbyter 
remained unmoved. Not long after this a persecution broke out, in 
which Lapricius, who had been a firm and steadfast believer, was con- 
demned to death. He walked with great joyfulness toward the place 
of his death. Nicephorus ran to meet him on the way to execution, 
fell down before him, and cried, ' ' O thou witness of Christ, forgive 
me!" But the martyr walked silently past him. Once more 
Nicephorus renewed his petition, but in vain. The executioners derided 
him as a fool, because, they said, he begged forgiveness of a con- 
demned criminal. Now they had arrived at the place of execution, 
and Nicephorus called out, " O it is written. Ask, and it shall be given 
you. ' ' But even the word of God made no impression on the implaca- 
ble man. But just as Lapricius was told to kneel down to receive the 
death-stroke, he felt himself forsaken of God. " Hold on," he cried, 
' ' I will offer sacrifice to the idols ! ' ' Then Nicephorus called out to 
him, "O sin not, my brother, do not apostatize, cast not away the 
crown that shall so soon be yours. ' ' But all in vain. Then Nicephorus 
turned to the executioners and said, "I believe on the name of the 
lyord Jesus Christ, whom he has denied ; therefore put me to death ! " 
Astonished, the rude executioners bring the marvelous account to the 
governor. Nicephorus was beheaded, and Lapricius was brought back 
to offer sacrifice to the idols. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 223 

In one of the wars between Denmark and Sweden, a Danish sol- 
dier on the field of battle had with a great effort obtained a bottle of 
water, with which he was about to quench his thirst. But just as he 
was going to drink, he heard the cry of an enemy, lying near by, both 
of whose legs were shot off, and who made a sign, begging for a drink. 
The Dane stooped down to the wounded Swede, and was about to give 
him a drink, before even he himself had tasted it. But in that 
moment the treacherous Swede fired a pistol at his benefactor, which 
fortunately missed its aim. Quietly the Dane took the bottle back, 
drank it half empty, then handed it back to the dying Swede, saying, 
"See, now you only get half of it." 

Henry VII., who became German emperor in the year 1309, was 
desirous of restoring the Roman empire to its original dimensions, 
and made an effort to regain Mailand and Florence. On his journey 
in his return, some of his enemies instigated a Florentine Monk to 
poison him by administering a poisoned wafer at the Lord's Supper. 
As soon as the emperor felt that the bread was poisoned, he said 
secretly to the Monk, " Thou hast given me the bread of life to pro- 
duce my death. Flee, lest my servants arrest thee, and put thee to 
death ! Repent of your crime ; for God has no pleasure in the death 
of the sinner, but rather that he should turn and live. ' ' 

A chamberlain of an English bishop had committed a crime, and 
Hale, the conscientious presiding judge, had him punished, as the law 
prescribed. When Hale saw that this had offended the bishop, he 
said to him, " Do you think, if God should ask me, why I favored this 
criminal, that I should answer, ' Because he is the chamberlain of a 
bishop?' " 

THE SIXTH PETITION. 

26^. What is the Sixth Petition ? 
" And lead us not into temptation." 
266. What is fneant by this petition ? 

1. God, indeed, tempts no one to sin; 

2. But we pray in this petition, that God would so 
guard and preserve us, that the devil, the world and our 
own flesh may not deceive us, nor lead us into error and 
unbelief, despair and other great and shameful sins ; 

3. And that, though we may be thus tempted, we 
may nevertheless finally prevail and gain the victory. 



234 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

THE MEANING OF THE WORDS. 

26 J. What is meant by " temptation " ? 
Temptation is the trial of a person, in order that the 
nature of his heart may become evident to himself and 

others. 

Deuteronomy viii. 2. And thou shalt remember all the way 
which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, 
to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, 
whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. 

268. How many kinds of temptations or trials are 
there ? 

There are two kinds of temptations or trials ; namely, 
good and evil temptations. 

26^. What is a good temptation or trial ? 

A good temptation or trial is one that is designed for 
our good, as for example, when God tempts or tries us 

1. By his commandments ; 

Psalm Ixvi. 10. For thou, O God, hast proved us : thou hast 
tried us, as silver is tried. 

2. Or by his benefits ; 

Romans ii. 4. Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and 
forbearance and long-suflfering ; not knowing that the goodness of 
God leadeth thee to repentance ? 

3. Or by the hiding of his face, as in misfortune, 
trouble and suffering, he reveals as a loving Father, the 
good that is in our hearts. 

2 Chronicles xxxii. 31. Howbeit in the business of the embassa- 
dors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to enquire of the 
wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he 
might know all that was in his heart. 

2 JO. What is an evil tem,ptation or trial ? 
An evil temptation or trial is, that in which a person is 
influenced or induced to commit sin. 

2yi. By what means are people influenced to commit 
sin ? 

People are tempted to sin 
I . By Satan ; 

Matthew iv. 3. And when the tempter came to him, he said. If 
thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 225" 

2. By bad people in the world, or 

Proverbs i. lo. My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. 

3. By their own evil inclinations or passions ; namely, 
into unbelief, impatience and other sins. 

James i. 13. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted 
of God : for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he 
any man. 

James i. 14. But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away 
of his own lust, and enticed. 

2^2. What is meant when we pray '* lead us not into 

temptation " ? 

By this we mean, 

1. That God would preserve us from the opportunity 
or occasion of falling into sin ; 

Luke xxii. 40. And when he was at the place, he said unto them, 
Pray that ye enter not into temptation. 

2. That in such temptations he would preserve us 
from falling into sin ; 

Matthew xxvi. 41. Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temp- 
tation : the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. 

3. That he would grant us the power to overcome 
the temptations ; 

Ephesians vi 10. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, 
and in the power of his might. 

I John V. 4. For whatsoever is bom of God overcometh the world: 
and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 

4. And overrule them for our good and his glory. 

I Corinthians x. 13. There hath no temptation taken you, but 
such as is common to man : but God is faithful, who will not suffer 
you to be tempted above that ye are able : but will with the tempta- 
tion also make a way to escape, that ye may 1^ able to bear it. 

THE APPLICATION. 

273 ' What is the application of this petition ? 
The application of this petition is 

1. That God tempts no one to do evil ; 

James i. 13. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted 
of God : for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he 
any man, 

2. That we should pray for the overruling for good 

results of our temptations. 



226 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

I/uke xxii. 31. And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan 
hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. 

Luke xxii. 32. But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: 
and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. 

2y/f.. Who pray this petition to their own condemnation ? 
Those pray this petition to their own condemnation, 

1. Who seek occasion to sin ; 

Micah ii. i. Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil 
upon their beds ! when the morning is light, they practice it, because 
it is in the power of their hand. 

2. Who willingly permit themselves to be led into sin 
by others. 

Psalm xxxvi. 4. He deviseth mischief upon his bed ; he settetb 
himself in a way that is not good ; he abhorreth not evil. 

EXPIyANATORY NOTES. 

This petition recognizes the fact that the soul, while in this world, 
is in danger of sin, and needs always to be watchful, and dependent on 
divine grace. 

I. We are taught here to pray that God would keep us from being 
tempted to sin. 

1. God cannot tempt us to sin (James i. 13), but he may permit 

us to be tempted, to try our faith and obedience. 

2. Satan is a tempter. He tempted our Lord : Matt. iv. i-io. 

He tempts us : i Cor, vii. 5. He is malicious, insinuating, 
and persevering in effort. 

3. People tempt one another : i Kings xxi. 7 ; Gen. xxxix. 7-12. 

4. The sinful heart tempts by its own lusts : James i. 14. 

5. The world tempts us : i Tim. vi. 9, 10 ; 2 Tim. iv. 10. 

II. That God would support and deliver us when we are tempted. 

We cannot expect to be free from temptation ; but by divine 
grace we may overcome, and escape the evil. For this we 
may pray : i Chron. iv. 10. 

1. That we may not yield to sin. 

2. That we may be delivered from the lusts of the flesh. 

3. That we may be preserved amidst temptations from the world. 

4. That we may be delivered from the snares of the devil : Matt. 

xiii. 19. 

5. That our faith may be strengthened to overcome the world, 

the devil, and the flesh. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 22/ 

III. God has premised grace to support us : i Cor. x. 13. 

1. He knows how to deliver us : 2 Peter ii. 9. 

2. He has delivered his people : Ps. Ivi. 13. 

3. Christ prayed that we may be kept from evil : John xvii. 15. 

1.ESSONS. 

1. We should dread sin more than suflFering. 

2. We should watch and pray, that we enter not into temptation. 
— Steel. 

This petition treats of temptation to do evil. There are three ene- 
mies, who would lead us into temptation ; namely, i. The devil ; 
2. The world, and 3. The flesh. We have had our attention directed 
to them in the third petition. All three would deceive us and lead us 
into falsehood and unbelief and bring us into trouble. The devil does 
this usually in this way : 

1. He fills us with evil thoughts ; 

2. He induces us to commit sin ; 

3. He misleads us into unbelief ; 

4. Finally he casts us into despair, shame, and crime. 

Of this we have examples in Cain and Judas. We shall and can 
overcome the devil. 

The world (that is worldly minded, sinful people) tempts us, 

1. By ungodly company ; 

2. By evil examples ; 

3. By flattering promises ; 

4. By fearful threatnings. Example : Joseph, Prov. i. 10. 

The Jlesh tempts us, when the sinful passions and desires of our 
hearts are awakened. James i. 14, 15. 

Here we pray to God, that he would give us strength, to overcome 
and gain the victory over all those three enemies, i Cor. x. 13 ; James 
i. 12. 

Paul has plainly described the proper weapons of our warfare against 
these foes. Eph. vi. 10-17. 

ANECDOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

In the sixth petition (which is Lead us not into temptation, but 
deliver us from, evtl), we pray, that God would either keep us from 
being tempted, or support and deliver us when we are tempted. — 
Shorter Catechism. 

An old divine remarked that we may not pray to be kept from 
suffering, but we may always pray to be kept from sinning. 



228 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

"Temptation will give oil and fuel to our lusts ; incite, provoke, 
and make them tumultuate and rage beyond measure. Tendering a 
lust, a corruption, a suitable object, advantage, occasion, it heightens 
and exasperates it, makes it for a season wholly predominant : so 
dealt it with carnal fear in Peter, with pride in Hezekiah, with covet- 
ousness in Achan, with uncleanness in David, with worldliness in 
Demas, with ambition in Diotrephes. It will lay the reins on the neck 
of a lust, and put spurs to the sides of it, that it may rush forward like 
a horse into battle. A man knows not the pride, fury, madness of a 
corruption, until it meet with a suitable temptation, 

"Temptation is like a knife, that may either cut the meat or the 
throat of a man ; it may be his food or his poison, his exercise or his 
destruction. 

" Let no man pretend to fear sin that doth not fear temptation to 
it. They are too nearly allied to be separated. Satan hath put them so 
together that it is very hard for any man to put them asunder. He 
hates not the fruit that delights in the root. 

" What, think you, are the thoughts, and what the heart of Christ, 
when he sees a temptation hastening towards us, a storm rising about 
us, and we are fast asleep ? Does it not grieve him to see us expose 
ourselves so to danger, after he has given us warning upon warning ? ' ' 
— Dr. Owen. 

How many have been tempted to drink, and yielding, have been 
ruined ! How many have been tempted to take money not their own, 
and lost honesty and place ! How many have been tempted to sin 
once, and have gone down the inclined plane to disgrace and misery ! 

The great resource in temptation is prayer and watching. 

A fleet of a hundred vessels lay at anchor in a port of the Mediter- 
ranean, when a fearful storm burst upon them, and drove all save one 
upon the shore. The wonder was how that one could have held its 
anchorage. It was found that its anchor had grappled into another 
which lay firmly embedded in the bottom of the sea. So the soul 
anchored to Christ, as in the cleft of the Rock of Ages, will be able to 
outride all the storms of temptation. 

' ' Go to dark Gethsemane, 

Ye that feel the tempter's power ; 
Your Redeemer's conflict see ; 

Watch with him one bitter hour : 
Turn not from his griefs away ; 
Learn of Jesus Christ to pray." — Hart. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 229 

Dr. Pendleton and Mr. Saunders, meeting together in the begin- 
ning of Queen Mary's reign, and speaking of the persecution which 
would likely arise, with regard to which Mr. Saunders discovered 
much weakness and fear ; Pendleton on the other hand, boasted of his 
resolution, that he would endure the severest treatment, rather than 
forsake Jesus Christ, and the truth which he had professed. Yet not 
long after, poor, feeble, faint-hearted Saunders, through the goodness 
of God, sealed the truth with his blood, while proud Pendleton played 
the apostate, and turned papist. 

A plain countrj^man, who was efifectually called by divine grace 
under a sermon from Zech. iii. 2, was some time afterwards accosted 
by a quondam companion of his drunken fits, and strongly solicited to 
accompany him to the ale house. But the good man strongly resisted 
all his arguments, saying, ' ' I am a brand plucked out of the fire. ' ' His 
old companion not understanding this, he explained it thus : ' ' Look 
ye, ' ' said he, ' ' there is a great difference between a brand and a green 
stick ; if a spark flies upon a brand that has been partly burned, it will 
soon catch fire again ; but it is not so with a green stick. I tell you I 
am that brand plucked out of the fire, and I dare not venture into the 
way of temptation for fear of being set on fire." 

One night Mr. Newton found a bill put up at St. Mary Woolnoth's, 
upon which he commented a great deal when he came to preach. The 
bill was to this effect, ' ' A young man, having come to the possession 
of a very considerable fortune, desires the prayers of the congregation, 
that he may be preserved from the snares to which it exposes him." — 
"Now, if the man," said Mr. Newton, " had lost a fortune, the world 
would not have wondered to have seen him put up a bill, but this man 
has been better taught. ' ' 

GOD TKMPTS NO ONE TO SIN, BUT ONI,Y FOR GOOD. 

Scriptural Examples. Through God's commands and directions, 
Adam and Bve, Gen. ii. 16, 17 ; Abraham, Gen. xxii. i, 2, 12 ; The 
Israelites, Ex. xvi. 4, 5 ; Ex. xx 20 ; By kindness or misfortunes, The 
Israelites,. Deut. viii. 2,3,15,16 ; The Canaanite woman, Matt, xv. 21, 22; 
Through opportunities for good or evil. The Corinthians, 2 Cor. viii. 8; 
The Israelites, Deut. xiii. 1-3 ; Judges ii. 21, 22 ; Hezekiah, 2 Chron. 
xxxii. 31. 

Professor A. H. Francke, went one day with a heavy heart to the 
building of the orphan house, because he was in need of money for 
stone and lime. There a laborer handed him a coin, which he had 
found in the rubbish, upon which stood the following inscription : 



230 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

^'^ Jehovah^ Conditor^ Condita Caronide Caronety That is, Jehovah, 
the Founder, shall crown that which was founded ! This was a sign 
from heaven for Francke. The work was begun with prayer daily, 
and at the end of the week was closed with prayer and an edifying ad- 
dress. The world, indeed, laughed, and ridiculed the builder, who 
had no money in his pocket, and a blasphemer even said, ** When the 
wall is finished I will permit myself to be hanged upon it." But the 
right hand of the Lord, which Francke grasped by faith, obtained the 
victory. 

With a gloomy countenance and a heart filled with fear, a poor, , 
but pious man, in Paris, came to the metropolitan bishop, and said to 
him, " Father, I am a sinner ; I feel that I am a sinner. Kvery hour 
I pray to God for light and faith, yet doubts arise in my mind. Cer- 
tainly, if I were not cast away from God, he would not permit me to 
be so terribly alarmed about the salvation of my soul. ' ' The bishop 
comforted his deeply concerned son in this wise : The king of France 
has two strong castles in different parts of the country and in different 
conditions, and to each one he appoints a commander. The castle 
Montelberry is far inland, where it is not much exposed to danger, 
but the castle La Rochelle stands on the sea shore, where it is always 
in danger of hostile attacks. What think you now, which of these 
two commanders stands highest in the confidence of the king ? The 
man replied, ' ' Without doubt, the king has the most confidence, and 
holds in the highest esteem, the commander who has the greatest re- 
sponsibility resting upon him, and is most courageous in time of dan- 
ger. " ' * You are right, " said the bishop, ' ' and now apply this to my 
and your position ; for my heart is analogous to the castle at Montel- 
berry, and yours to the castle at La Rochelle. ' ' 

Taking God at his word. A pious Irish peasant was for a long 
time troubled with doubts about the salvation of his soul, arising from 
false views of the efficacy of the atoning death of Christ. A faithful 
servant of Christ sought to prove to him, that we must believe or 
trust God on his word, and related the following account : ' ' Bmperor 
Napoleon once reviewed a regiment. While he was giving orders, the 
bridle of his horse slipped out of his hand, and the horse ran away. 
A common soldier, an active man, ran from the ranks, caught the 
horse by the bridle, and returned him to the emperor, who said to 
him, "Thank you, captain." "In which regiment, sir?" "In my 
guards," replied the emperor and galloped away. The soldier had 
the word of the emperor, and depended upon it. He came in his fu- 
siliers uniform to the general of the staff. ' ' This man a captain of 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 23 1 

the guard ! " said one of the generals. " Yes, for he has said it," re- 
plied the soldier, pointing to the emperor. ' ' O sir, I beg your pardon," 
said the general. The soldier had not yet taken upon himself the 
position of a captain, his epaulettes or sword. The word of the sover- 
eign was worth more to him than a uniform He believed. ' ' The 
peasant now comprehended from this narrative, what it is to believe, 
or take God at his word, and since then he has lived in a new atmos- 
phere. 

THE T:eMPTATlON TO UNBElylEF THROUGH THE DEVIIv, THE WORI^D, 

AND THE FI,ESH. 

Scriptural Examples. Adam and Eve, Gen. iii. 1-5 ; Christ, Matt, 
iv. 3 ; Job i. 8-12 ; ii. 3-6 ; Judas, Luke xxii, 3 ; John xiii. 2 ; Peter, 
Luke xxii. 31 ; Adam by Eve, Gen. iii. 6 ; Joseph by Potiphar's wife, 
Gen. xxxix. 7-12 ; Israel by Moab, Num. xxv. 1-3 ; Job by his wife, 
Job ii. 9 ; Christ by the Pharisees, Matt. xxii. 15 ; The Corinthians 
by unbelievers, i Cor. xv. 33. 

The emperor promised to the duke, Philipp, of Hessen, the duke- 
dom of Katzen-Ellenbogen, and the elector, George, of Meiszen, 
promised him the inheritance of all his goods and lands, if he would 
forsake the Evangelical faith. But he joyfully declined the offers, 
and thought of the following verse in a certain hymn : 

All the riches of the earth, 
Silver, gold, or money's worth. 
Have here but a short duration. 
And cannot help in our salvation . 

The duke of Veuier had engraven on his coat of arms, a tree laden 
with many fruits and a few broken branches, with the following super- 
scription : Copia me perdii ; that is, "The abundance is my ruin." 
This was to signify, that by his possessions, worry and labors he con- 
sumed and ruined himself, or that on account of his talents and advan- 
tages, he was envied and hated by others. 

A misanthropic man in East India violently contradicted and 
opposed a Christian missionary. The missionary let him scold for 
a while, and then said quite calmly, " I will tell you a story. An ox 
was grazing quietly in the meadow, when a dog came, barked at him, 
and drove him away. But the ox said to him. Why do you envy me 
this good grass, which you can not eat? " The people understood the 
meaning of this parable and applauded, but the reviler departed with 
shame. 



232 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

Johaun Gerhard, one of the most distinguished theologians of the 
17th century, rescued the city of Jena, when it was about to experience 
the calamities of the 30 years' war by the hostile popish troops. He 
did this at the risk of his own life. The Austrian army was marching 
towards Jena, with the object of plundering and destroying the city. 
The courageous and worthy man went out to meet them, and on the 
bridge, prostrated himself before the general and pleaded for protec- 
tion. But the general remained unmoved and would not listen to his 
petition. Gerhard arose, stepped up to him, and called with courage 
and determination, " If you will not hear me, then God, our heavenly 
Father, will hear me ! ' ' This exclamation reached the heart of the 
general, and he treated the city and university of Jena with mildness. 

A sheriff who was about to levy on the household goods of a poor 
man, found him and his family engaged in singing the hymn, " Out 
of the depths we call to thee, ' ' etc. By this scene and especially by 
the hymn, the sheriff was so deeply affected, that he gave his coat to 
the poor man, that he should sell it and pay his debt. 

God tempts no one to sin The temptation here meant is that 
which proceeds out of an evil cause, and is intended to accomplish a 
bad end ; namely, that we should fall into sin. God tempts no one to 
do evil. 

God, indeed, sends his son into the desert, but it is the devil that 
tempts him. 

"The devil takes no vacation," says the proverb. That is, he 
does not cease to promote intrigues, by which he can rob believers of 
their faith and peace. He knows whom he shall incite to fleshly lusts, 
whom to gormandizing and drunkenness, whom to quarrels and mur- 
der, and whom to jealousy and envy. He knows whom he shall de- 
press into discouragements and fear, or to fill with pride by flattery. 
He takes notice of the habits of all men, he weighs their cares, 
searches after their minds and inclinations, and studies constantly how 
he can injure human beings. 

Where a church is built for God, the devil seeks to build a chapel 
beside it. — Proverb. 

May not deceive us. When the devil would deceive the people, 
he is beautiful as an angel of light. 

The devil goes to work very cunningly. He began by asking 
Christ to create bread for himself, and ended by asking Christ to wor- 
ship him. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 233 

The ancients related the following legend to illustrate the devil's 
cunning : The de^dl once came in the disguise of a pedler with the 
objectof selling /!>rzV<? to the people, and called out, "Who wants to 
buy pride, let him come to me, I will sell it cheap." But the people 
said, "God forbid, for pride is a mortal sin." Then a wicked woman 
came and said to the devil, " You fool ! Do you think the people will 
buy pride, when you call it by the right name ; you must say, that 
you have fashion, or gentility for sale, and I'll bet, you will have cus- 
tomers enough." The devil followed her advice and immediately 
sold all his wares. 

The devil takes away from man the sense of shame and fear, that 
he may commit sin ; after he has committed sin, he gives both (shame 
and fear) back to him again, that he may commit new sins, in order 
to cover up those which he has committed, without seeking forgive- 
ness of God through Christ. At first he presents sin to him as a trifle, 
or a grain of sand, but after their commission, as a mountain, which 
must crush his heart. 

The song which the devil sings to men, has three verses ; 

1. Commit sin ; 

2. Continue to sin ; you have a long time to repent and be con- 
verted ; 

3. Dispair, you have now waited too long ; there is now no hope 
for you ; your soul is lost. This is the end of the song. 

The World. The world is a crowd of such people, as receive all 
kinds of good things from God, and repay him with ingratitude and 
blasphemy. — Luther. 

The world is the bride of the devil. — Ger. Proverb. 

Pious people are the step-children of the world, she is not kind 
to them ; she persecutes and oppresses them wherever she can, she 
takes advantage of them and tries to cheat them out of their inheri- 
tance. 

As soon as we enter on the way to heaven, a beautiful woman 
meets us ; namely, the Sweet World, and lures us by the beautiful 
apple. To our left appears a hateful woman ; namely, the Bitter 
World, who frightens us with the dreadful cross. Now, if the Sweet 
World can cause us to laugh and the Bitter World can cause us to 
weep, then the inheritance will soon be spent. 

" Deceive us." When the world fondles any one, she is trying to 
fasten the rope around his neck. — Ger. Proverb. 



234 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

The world gives bad wages. — Ger. Proverb. 

He who serves the world most faithfully, receives the poorest 
reward, — Ger. Proverb, 

The world asks, Is it pleasant ? Is it useful ? Is it feasible ? Is it 
honorable ? But the Christian asks. Is it also Christian ? 

As soon as man enters into the world an enticing Jael goes before 
him ; behind him follows a defrauding Laban ; to his right walks a 
smiling Joab, with a sword under his mantel ; and on the left a false 
Judas offers a kiss. Therefore it is important to keep our eyes open 
and be on our guard, or else none will escape. 

That our flesh may cot deceive us. Do not trust him who is 
nearest to you, who lives in the same house with you, who eats out of 
the same spoon with you, and sleeps in the same bed with you ; 
namely, yourself ! 

In an old book we find a moth painted to represent how a man 
may be driven by his own lust to do that which will bring him harm, 
pain and death. The moth is represented as flying around the flame 
of a candle, with the subscription, Ut Patiari Patiar ; that is, "If I 
catch it, I will suffer for it. " 

The heart is the fountain of evil. In olden times there lived a 
man who was very irritable. He became angry at the least provoca- 
tion, and afterwards was sorry on account of it. Then he thought, 
" This comes from the bad people, among whom I live ; if these did 
not provoke me, I would be more mild. I will go away and live as a 
hermit in the wild forest, where I will never see or hear any one, and 
then I will not become angry any more." Then he went away into 
the forest and found a place, where a spring of fresh water ran dovm 
from the rock ; there he built a hut for himself. While he was work- 
ing at his hut he felt thirsty, went to the spring and set his pitcher 
down to catch the water. But the pitcher did not stand firm, and fell 
down. The second time he set it up and it fell down again, when he 
set it up once more. After a while the pitcher fell down the third 
time, and instead of setting it up again, he became so enraged, that he 
struck it against the rock, and broke it into a thousand pieces. But as 
he stood there, holding the handle of the broken pitcher in his hand, 
and saw the pieces scattered about on the ground, he came to himself 
and in alarm said, ' ' O what a fool I have been ! I thought the wrath 
came into me from without^ now I see that it comes out of me ! There- 
fore I will no longer remain a hermit, but I will return to my brethren, 
that they may give me good advice and help me to pray, that my own 
heart may be made better. ' ' 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 235 

Once a knight became weary of the world and entered a monas- 
tery, where he was received as a lay-brother. Then, when the Abbot 
told him to clean the stable, or sweep the kitchen, or do any work of 
that kind, he said, " My dear Abbot, you must remember that I am a 
nobleman, and stand in high repute before the world ; therefoie, 
please do not ask me to do such menial work ; it is disgraceful to me." 
But when the Abbot said, *' Get thee ready, Brother Kunrad, to go out 
. riding to-morrow," then he said, "Yes, my dear sir ! for this reason I 
have had my head shaved, in token of my submissive obedience to 
your orders. ' ' This is the answer of the Old Adam : That which is 
unpleasant to him, he will not do; thinks too much is asked of him ; 
others should do that, although God has commanded him to do it. 
But when he is told to do something pleasant, he is ready and willing 
at once, boasts of his obedience, and wishes to receive special praise 
and honor for doing his duty. 

Temptation to false doctrine — and crime. Franciscus Spiera, for 
worldly gain had permitted himself to deny the faith. When he came 
to die, his friends tried to comfort him by the mercy of God and the 
blood of Christ. But he replied, "It is impossible that God should 
pluck me out of hell." 

In the year 1082 a very learned man, in Paris, lay very sick. He 
had no regard for God's word and a future judgment. While in bed, 
the 13th chapter of the book of Job was read to him, and when the 
reader came to the words, (verses 21, 22) "Withdraw thine hand far 
from me, and let not thy dread make me afraid. Then call thou and I 
will answer," he sat up in bed and cried out, Justo Dei Judicio accus- 
atus sum. That is, " By God's just judgment I am now accused." All 
present were terrified, and the reading was discontinued. On the next 
day he exclaimed in connection with the same words, "'Justo Dei 
Judicaius sum '''' That is, " By God's righteous judgment I am sen- 
tenced. ' ' And on the third day, when he was dying, he cried with a 
loud voice, that all could hear, ''''Justo Dei Judicio daninatus sum,.'''' 
That is, " By God's righteous judgment I am damned." So terrible 
was this cry, that all fled out of the house. With these words he died. 

Luther says, We must all feel temptations, although not of the 
same kind, or of the same degree ; some more, some less. Youth has 
especially temptations of the 7?<?5^ ; afterwards those who have grown 
up or become old, temptations from the world ; but others, who are 
engaged in spiritual things have temptations from the devil. 

. The thief loves to steal especially gold and silver vessels. — Prov. 



236 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

Just as a pirate pursues in preference the richly laden ships, so the 
hellish pirate, the devil, pursues those most violently, who possess the 
precious treasures of faith ; namely, the truly regenerated Christians. 

We might just as well pray, '* I^ead us not into any kind of temp- 
tation, " as a soldier should beg his general not to lead him into battle, 
or the sailor say to his captain. Lead us not out into the open sea. 

A Christian's school of suflfering contains four classes : 

1. In the first class he learns, " / must suffer ,■ " 

2. In the second class he learns, ** / will !,uffer ; " 

3. In the third class he learns, ' ' / can suffer ; ' ' 

4. In the fourth class he learns, * * / may suffer. ' ' 

He who comes from Gethsemane has overcome death..— Prov. 
The anvil is not afraid of the hammer, — Prov. 

He who has not tasted the bitter, does not know what sweet is. — 
Prov. 

An aged father said to a sick youth, ' ' My dear son, do not distress 
yourself on account of your bodily infirmity, for a devout Christian 
should thank God, even for his afflictions. If you are iron, then the 
fire will take your rust away ; but if you are gold, then the fire will 
purify you for greater glory. Therefore when God thus visits you, you 
should not impatiently resist his will, but be resigned, and pray that 
God shall do with you as seems best to him. 

Wenceslaus, king of Bohemia, was taken prisoner by his enemies 
in battle and treated very harshly. His enemies asked him, ' ' Do you 
now see the difference between being a king and a prisoner, ' ' He re- 
plied, ' ' I see the difference very well. While I was a king, I thought 
only of worldly things ; now I think of God and heavenly things. 
While I was a king, I lived for myself ; but since I bear these chains, 
/ live for my God, ' ' 

THE SEVENTH PETITION, 

275. What is the Seventh Petition ? 

" But deliver us from evil." 

2y6. What is meant by this petition f 

We pray in this petition, as in a summary, that our 
heavenly Father would deliver us from all manner of evil, 
whether it affect the body or the soul, property or character, 
and at last, when the hour of death shall have come, grant 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 23/ 

US a happy end, and graciously take us from this world of 
sorrow to himself in heaven. 

THE MEANING OF THE WORDS. 

2yy. What is the " eviV spoken of in this petition ? 

By the " evil " from which we pray in this petition to 
be delivered, is everything that is injurious to us in body, 
soul, property or character, for time and eternity. 

z'jS. By what is evil produced in this world? 

Evil is produced 

1 . By Satan ; 

Bphesians vi. 12. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but 
against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the dark- 
ness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 

1 Peter v. 8. Be sober, be vigilant ; because your adversary the 
devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. 

2. By sin. 

2jg. What is meant by " deliver us'' ? 
By the words " deliver us " we pray 

1. That God would preserve us from the evil that is 

present ; 

2 Timothy iv. 14. Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil : 
the Lord reward him according to his works. 

2. From that which is in the future. 

John xvii. 15. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the 
world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. 

Jonah iii. 4. And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's jour- 
ney, and he cried, and said. Yet forty days, and Ninevah shall be 
overthrown. 

THE APPLICATION. 

280. How do the evils of this world affect us ? 
The evils affect 

1. Our bodies, as in sickness and death ; 

2. Our souls, as in unbelief, impatience, hatred, 
jealousy, etc. 

281. What is the last evil from which we pray to be 
delivered? 



238 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

The last and greatest evil from which we pray to be 
delivered is 

1. An unhappy death, and 

2. The consequences of an unholy life and a hope- 
less death. 

I Corinthians xv. 26. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is 
death. 

282. Who pray this petition to their own condemnation ? 

Those pray this petition to their own condemnation, 

1. Who presumptuously persevere in their sins; 

Jeremiah xliv. 16. As for the word that thou hast spoken unto 
us in the name of the Lord, we will not hearken unto thee. 

2. Who despise the means by which they can be de- 
livered from their sins. 

PsalnbL Iviii. 4. Their poison is like the poison of a serpent : they 
are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear. 

BXPI^ANATORY NOTES. 

To deliver us from evil, means to make us free from evil. Instead 
of " evil," it would be more correct to say the " Evil One ; " that is 
Satan. 

In a '■'■ summafy " means, taken all together. 

' ' All manner of evil, ' ' means all kinds of evil. 

Luther names four kinds of evils : 

1. Bodily evils, [e. g., sickness); 

2. Evils of the soul, [e. g., sadness, fear, discouragement); 

3. Evils of possessions, {e.g., poverty, loss, etc.); 

4 Evils of reputation, {e.g., slander, disgrace, etc.) 

Of all these four evils, many examples can easily be cited from the 

Holy Scriptures. 

The Lord Jesus endured all these four evils for us. This world is 

called a * ' vale of tears, ' ' because there is so much trouble in it. 

Here we pray God, that he would strengthen and comfort]|us in all 
trouble, and finally when the hour of death comes, take us to himself 
in paradise. That is a happy death, when we can depart with prayer 
and faith in the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ. Rev. xiv. 13 ; Psalm 
xxxi. 5, 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 239 

ANECDOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

THE DEI.IVERANCK FROM AI.Iv EVII,S. 

Scriptural Examples. Hezekiah, 2 Chron xxxii. 1-24 ; Manasseh, 
2 Chron. xxxiii. 12, 13 ; Paul, Acts xiv. 19-21 ; Christ, Matt. xxvi. 39, 
41 ; Heb v 7, 8 ; Job i. 21 ; Paul, 2 Cor. iv. 16-18 ; Paul, 2 Tim. iv. 
17, 18 ; Paul, Phil, i 20-24 ; Worldly people, Psalm xvii. 13-15 ; Psalm 
xlix. 12, 13. 

John Tobias Kiesling, the merchant, while on his way to Austria, 
found, in a village, a little girl sitting at the door, who appeared to be 
very sad and kept her eyes constantly cast down to the earth. He said 
to her, ' ' My dear child, why do you sit here with down-cast eyes ? ' ' 
The little girl looked up to the stranger, and he saw that her eyes were 
very red and inflamed. She replied, " O I am always sick, sad and 
miserable, and in addition, I have sore eyes." My dear child," said 
Kiesling, ' ' I think you look too much on the ground, into the dust of 
the earth ; only learn to lift your eyes more toward heaven, for which 
they were given you, then your heart will become glad and cheerful, 
and you will become healthy, and 3'our sore eyes will be healed." 
Then the little girl asked the stranger, how this was to be understood ? 
And he explained his meaning to her, so that her eyes overflowed in 
tears, which indeed, did not injure them. For, behold, when Kies- 
ling on his return came to the same place again, she could look into 
his face with cheerfulness and joy, and at her eyes it could be easily 
seen, that they had learned to look upward toward heaven. 

The Pharisee and the Publican In olden times, a hermit died, 
and praised himself extravagantly for the holy life which he had lived. 
A robber heard him, and became penitent, ran away, confessed his 
sins and called upon God for merc5^ While running, he fellj and broke 
his neck. All this was seen by a pious man, who wept at the death of 
the hermit and laughed when he saw the robber break his neck. 
When he was rebuked for this conduct, and asked, why he acted thus, 
he replied, ' ' When the hermit died, the devil took him, on account of 
his pride and hypocricy, therefore I wept ; but when the robber broke 
his neck, the holy angels carried his soul to heaven, on account of his 
humility and penitence ; on this account I was joyful and laughed." 

The German poet, Gellert, placed great importance on a good 
name, and felt very keenly the slanders that were heaped upon him. 
Therefore, when once a whole year had passed without any slanders 
having been written or spoken against him, he expressed in his diary 
his heart-felt gratitude for this, among other blessings, which he had 
enjoyed during the year. 



240 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

A sick Negro begged the missionary to give him a shroud in which 
his body might be buried after he was dead. But the missionary im" 
pressed upon him the necessity of caring much more for the robe of 
Christ's righteousness, to clothe his immortal soul, when he should 
stand before God, than a shroud to wrap around his dead body, when 
it should be laid in the grave. This had a good effect, he prayed 
constantly for mercy, and the forgiveness of his sins. How many are 
more concerned about the burial of their bodies, than the salvation of 
their souls ! 

The Monk, Bonosus, who suffered from defective eyesight, came, 
like many others, to the distinguished Abbot, Severinus, to be healed 
by his prayers. But the Abbot exhorted him to pray to God to en- 
lighten his spiritual eyes. These oft repeated exhortations of the wor- 
thy Abbot taught him to seek light through his spiritual, rather than 
bodily eyes, and to forget his ills in communion with God. 

Mrs. Anna Catharine Wieglob, of Halle, prayed earnestly during 
her last illness, that the Lord might soon release her from her suffer- 
ings, and take her to himself in heaven. On the morning of Feb. 12, 
1719, she related, that during the night the lyord had said to her, 
" Now all is over ; now I will deliver thee from all evil." But soon 
the thought troubled her, that possibly she had sinned, in praying so 
urgently to be released by death. She therefore prayed, that God 
would forgive her, if she had presumed too much. 

A HAPPY DEATH. 

Scriptural Examples. Jacob, Gen. xlix. 18 ; Simeon, Luke ii. 29, 
30 ; Christ, Luke xxiii. 46 ; Stephen, Acts vii. 55-59. 

When Christian III., king of Denmark lay critically ill, at Christ- 
mas, in the year 1558, he had a singular dream, in which an angel 
appeared to him and said, "Christian, if you have yet anything to 
command that is to be done in thy kingdom after thy death, then 
attend to it in time, for in eight days God will call thee out of thine 
earthly kingdom into his heavenly kingdom." When he awoke, the 
pious king rejoiced over this news. On New Year's day he desired to 
receive the Lord's Supper, and then took farewell of his household, 
requesting his pastor and the courtiers to sing spiritual hymns. When 
they hesitated to do this, the king said, " I will sing and you will join 
me in singing, then it may be said. The king of Denmark sang his own 
funeral hymns." Then he began to sing, " With peace and joy I pass 
away ; " "In the midst of life we are in death ; " " Now sink the body 
in the grave." At the conclusion of these hymns, he died joyfully on 
New Year's day, 1559. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 24I 

An aged lad}- in England, who had spent her life in the service of 
Christ's Kingdom, was lying on her deathbed. The well known Dr. 
Philipp took farew^ell of her one evening, as he supposed for the last 
time in this world. When he came home he found a letter, in which 
the wonderful conversion of the South Sea Islanders was reported. 
"O," thought he, " If I only had received this letter a few hours 
sooner, what a joy it would have afforded that dying saint. ' ' The next 
morning his first walk was to her house with the letter in his pocket. 
When he entered the chamber, he was told, the patient had been lying 
for several hours with closed eyes, and was speechless. He stepped 
up to the bed and observed that she appeared to be already dead, or 
was about dying. But he sat down by the bed, and began to read the 
letter. He had scarcely read a few lines, when a change on her face 
was observed ; he read on, and her features showed a smile. He still 
continued to read, and behold ! she opened her eyes, and as he con- 
tinued to read the account of that miracle of grace — she raised her 
hands, and praised the Lord for what she had heard — then she expired, 
and her spirit passed over to continue the praises in heaven, which had 
just been silenced on earth. 

Melanchton was lying critically ill during the Easter festival of 
the year 1560, the hour of his departure came on Friday, after Easter. 
Hands and feet began to be cold ; his pulse failed and his face became 
pale ; then he prayed in these words, ' ' Lord Jesus, into thy hands I 
commend my spirit ; thou hast redeemed me, O thou faithful God." 
After repeating these words for the third time, he peacefully fell asleep 
in death. 

When the pious John Arndt lay on his deathbed, March 11, 1621, 
he woke up after a short sleep and exclaimed, ' ' We beheld his glory, 
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. ' ' 
John i. 14. His wife asked him, when he had seen this glory ? He re- 
plied, ' ' Now I have seen it, O what a glory that is ! No ear hath 
heard it, and it hath not entered into any human heart ! This glory I 
have seen ! ' ' His last words were, ' ' Now I have overcome ! ' ' 

On one occasion. Dr. Mangold, a Christian physician, was suffer- 
ing severe pains, and a friend was leaving him to go to church ; he 
said to him, "O my dear friend, pray most earnestly, that the Lord 
would soon relieve me from all evil." But he immediately recalled 
what he had asked, and said humbly and resignedly, ' ' No, do not pray 
for that ; I do not wish to die one moment sooner, than it is the will 
of my Lord and Savior. ' ' 



242 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

The distinguished Heinrich Mueller died in Rostock in peace and 
joy, on Sept. ii, 1675. Before his departure he sang spiritual songs, 
prayed most earnestly, exhorted his household to prayer, and com- 
forted them with these words, "It is not I, but it is my misery and 
pain that will die." 

The sufferings of Christopher Von Haugwitz, of Alt Seitenberg, were 
very severe in his last sickness, and he prayed, ' ' O Lord, how long, 
how long ! ' ' His pastor said to him, ' ' The Lord will come and not 
tarry. You, as an experienced soldier know very well, what was the 
rule when you stood on guard ; no matter whether it hailed or snowed, 
the soldier must not leave his post, until he has been relieved by his 
commander. ' ' The sick man was pacified by these words. 

A Christian youth was lying on his deathbed, and his mother was 
watching by his side. At length he said, "Mother, it is getting dark ; 
I can not see you any more. " After awhile he said again, "Mother, 
my feet are getting cold, and I feel a chilliness creeping up towards my 
heart." After awhile he said again, " Mother, it is getting light again! 
I see the holy angels, and I hear them sing ! ' ' After these words he 
softly expired, and we have no doubt, the holy angels conveyed him 
on wings of light and glory home to heaven. 

THE CONCLUSION. 

28 J. What is the conclusion of the Lord's Prayer? 
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the 
glory, forever and ever. Amen. 

THE MEANING OF THE WORDS. 

28^. What do we pray for when we say " Thine is 
the kingdom " .^ 

By these words we acknowledge him as 

1. Our Lord and King to whom we submit as loyal 
subjects ; 

2. Our Father, whom we obey as loving children, and 

3. To whom we pray for the prevention of evil and 
the bestowal of all good. 

Isaiah Ixiii, 16. Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham 
be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not : thou, O Lord, art 
our father, our redeemer ; thy name is from everlasting. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 243 

28^. What do we mean by the word " power " ? 

By the word " power," we mean, that God is Almighty 
and can help us in every time of need. 

Psalm Ixxxix. 13. Thou hast a mighty arm ; strong is thy hand, 
and high is thy right hand. 

286. What is meant by the word ^^ glory " ? 

By the glory of God we mean that he displays his 
divine attributes before his intelligent creatures to the honor 
of his name. 

28 J. What dowe understand by the word ^^ forever and 
ever?'' 

By this word we mean that God is eternal in his exist- 
ence and unchangeable in his character. 

Psalm cii. 27. But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no 
end. 

Psalm cii. 28. The children of thy servants shall continue, and 
their seed shall be established before thee. 

288. What is meant by the word " Amen ? " 

By this word is meant, 

That I should be assured, that such petitions are 
acceptable to God, our Heavenly Father, and are heard by 
him; 

For he himself has commanded us to pray in this 
manner and has promised that he will hear us. Amen, 
Amen ; this is, yea, yea, it shall be so. 

28 g. What is the application of the word Amen ? 

The application of the word Amen is, that we have the 
confident assurance that he will and can do what he prom- 
ises, because 

1. We belong to his kingdom. 

Psalm xcvii. i. The Lord reigneth ; let the earth rejoice ; let the 
multitude of isles be glad thereof. 

2. He has divine power to do whatever he wills. 

Psalm Ixxxix. 19. Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one, 
and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty ; I have exalted 
one chosen out of the people. 



244 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

3. He has commanded us to pray, and 

Kpliesians vi. 18. Praying always with all prayer and supplication 
in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and sup- 
plication for all saints. 

4. He has promised to hear our prayers. 

Matthew vii. 7. Ask, and it shall be given you ; seek, and ye 
shall find ; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. 

e;xpi,anatory notks. 

thine is the kingdom, the power and the gi^ory. 

Scriptural Examples. David, i Chron. xxx. 11, 12 ; Paul, Rom. 
xvi. 27 ; I Tim. i. 17 ; The 24 Elders, Rev. iv. 11. 

On one occasion, a poor man asked lyuther for assistance. He 
gave him what little money he himself had in the house. His wife 
did not seen to be entirely pleased with this liberality. But Luther 
said to her, * ' Dear Katie, God is rich ; he will supply all our needs. ' ' 

While Hayden's musical composition, '* The Creation^'''' was per- 
formed, he himself was affected to tears. But when, after the perform- 
ance, everybody rushed to him to congratulate him, he exclaimed, 
**Not to me ! The honor belongs not to me, but all goodness comes 
from above ! ' ' 

A Negro slave in Virginia, who was endowed with much sound 
Christian intelligence, was remarkable for his faith in a future life and 
devoid of all fear. A white man, also a true Christian, said to him, 
* * Jack, you appear to be always confident and assured in your hope of 
salvation, what is the cause of this ? " Jack replied, " Well, massa, I 
fall right down on the promises, and then pray right up." 

Thine is the kingdom^ to which we are called ; therefore, God 
will help ; 

Thine is the power, by which we are upheld ; therefore, God can 
help ; 

Thine is the glory, for which we are created, redeemed and sanc- 
tified ; therefore, God will surely support and glorify us. 

On the little word '* T)^/^*? " is built our confidence, that our 
prayers will be answered, for every petition is based on this kingdom. 
The kingdom belongs to God ; therefore it must remain, yea, rather 
come, as we pray in each petition, even if wicked men and Satan strive 
to hinder it. Therefore Luther writes so beautifully, Aug. 5, 1530, to 
Gregory Brueck, Chancellor of the Elector Johann, of Saxony : 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 245 

** I have lately seen two wonders : The first one, as I looked out of 
the window, and saw the stars of heaven, and the whole beautiful 
arch of the firmament, and yet I could see no pillars, upon which the 
Master Builder had set the arch ; notwithstanding the heavens did not 
fall, and the arch stands firm. Now there are some who search for the 
pillars and would grasp them, and feel them. But as they can not do 
this, they struggle and tremble for fear that the heavens would fall, 
for no other reason, than that they can not grasp and see the pillars 
that support the heavens. If they could lay hold of the pillars, then 
they think the heavens would stand firm. 

The second wonder that I saw, was thick clouds, which floated 
over our heads, so great and heavy, that they could be compared to a 
vast sea ; and yet I saw no foundation on which they could rest, and 
no reservoir, (Kufe. in which they were contained. Yet they did not 
fall upon us, but saluted us with a frowning countenance, and fled 
away. When they were passed away the foundation and the covering, 
in which they had been embraced, shone forth ; namely, the rainbow, 
(Gen. ix. 8-17.) That was, indeed, a weak, thin, and insignificent 
foundation and covering, which also vanished with the clouds and was 
more like a phantom, or shadow, than a powerful foundation, so that 
one might be more in dread of the foundation than of the lowering 
clouds. Yet it appeared, indeed, that this feeble phantom or shadow 
bore up and protected the great flood of waters. Yet there are some 
who look upon, regard and fear the flood of waters, thick clouds and 
heavy burdens, more than this thin, narrow and light phantom ; for 
they want to feel the power and strength of this phantom, and because 
they can not do this, they fear the clouds may become an eternal flood, 
like that in the days of Noah. ' ' 

AMEN. 

When " Amen " is said after the creed or any utterance of faith in 
prose or verse, its meaning must be "so be it, ' ' for it is true. 

When ' ' Amen ' ' is said after any prayer, or blessing, or spiritual 
good, it must mean " so be it," for it is my desire. 

When ' 'Amen ' ' is said after any prayer involving on our part 
promises of amendment, and such like, it must mean " so be it, ' ' for it 
is my firm purpose. 

When "Amen" is said after praise and, adoration, it must mean 
" so be it, ' ' for it is the aspiration of my heart. 

Amen is the seal of our loving, heavenly Father. — Ger. Proverb: 
Amen says to you, Live upon it ; pray upon it ; suffer upon it, 
and die upon it ! — Ger. Proverb. 



246 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

L/Uther once wrote to Melanchton, ' ' I pray for you ; I have prayed 
for you, and I will continue to pray for you ; and I doubt not, my 
prayer has been answered ; for I feel that Amen in my heart." (He 
meant the Amen at the end of the Lord's Prayer.) God spoke the 
Amen into Luther's heart. Luther tells his experience, when he says 
in the Catechism, ' ' I am sure, I feel the Amen of God in my heart. ' ' 
Such petitions are answered at the Throne of Grace. 

Amen is also a name of Christ. Rev. iii 14. These things saith 
the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation 
of God. ' ' Je.sus is meant in this Scripture passage. As his name is, 
so is he also, the Amen, the truthful one. So the Lord also calls him- 
self : I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. 

Amen was used by the Hebrews in covenants or oaths. It was cus- 
tomary in apostolic days to say Amen at the giving of thanks, Ter- 
tuUian says they said Amen at the eucharist— that is, at the end of the 
prayer. 

" So," says Dean Stanley, " in the early Christian liturgies it was 
regarded as a marked point in the service ; and with this agrees the 
great solemnity with which Justin speaks of it, as though it were on a 
level with the thanksgiving : ' The president having given thanks, the 
whole people shouted their approbation. ' In later times the Amen 
was only repeated once by the congregation, and always after the 
great thanksgiving, and with a shout like a peal of thunder. ' ' 

A Hindu and a New Zealander once met on the deck of a mission- 
ary ship. They were both converts from heathenism, but could not 
speak to each other. They pointed to their Bibles, shook hands, and 
smiled. At last a happy thought occurred to the Hindu. He ex- 
claimed, "Hallelujah." The New Zealander answered in delight, 
"Amen." In these two Hebrew words, brought into their respective 
languages by the Word of God, they were able to express their feelings. 

Alexander the Great had a famous but indigent philosopher in his 
court. This adept in science was once particularly straitened in his 
circumstances To whom should he apply but to his generous patron, 
the conqueror of the world ? His request was no sooner made than it 
was granted. Alexander gave him a commission to receive of his treas- 
urer whatever he wanted. He immediately demanded, in his sover- 
eign's name, ten thousand pounds ! The treasurer, surprised at so 
large a demand, refused to comply ; but he waited upon the king, and 
represented to him the affair, adding withal how unreasonable he 
thought the petition, and how exorbitant the sum. Alexander heard 



ILLUSTRATED CAIECHISM. 24/ 

him with patience, but as soon as he had ended his remonstrance, 
replied, " Let the money be instantly paid. lam delighted with the 
philosopher's way of thinking : he has done me a singular honor ; by 
the largeness of his request, he shows the high idea he has conceived 
both of my superior wealth and my royal munificence." Thus let us 
honor what the inspired penman styles the ' ' marvellous loving-kind- 
ness of Jehovah. " "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered 
him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all 
things?" Rom. viii. 32. 

"The Amen thus used," says Dean Stanley, "was borrowed from 
the worship of the synagogue, and hence probably the article is pre- 
fixed as to a well-known form. It was there regarded as the necessary 
ratification of the prayer of blessing. The rabbins say : ' He who says 
Amen is greater than he that blesseth.' 'Whosoever says Amen, to 
him the gates of paradise are open.' An Amen, if not well considered, 
was called an orphan Amen. ' Whosoever says an orphan Amen, his 
children shall be orphans ; whosoever answers Amen hastily or shortly, 
his days shall be shortened ; whosoever answers Amen distinctly and 
at length, his days shall be lengthened. ' Captain Burton noticed the 
word as uttered by the vast assembly of the pilgrims at Mecca, to 
express their assent to the great sermon at Kaaba." 

"The certainty. Amen, is derived from the truth and faithfulness 
of God. Christ introduces his most solemn statements with this word; 
and with it believers close their prayers, in sign and testimony that all 
human faithfulness and human certitude spring from the faithfulness 
of God. This word Amen has its great history in Biblical theology, in 
the services of the Church, and in the lives of believers " — Lange. 

A milkdealer in London heard, while he was distributing his cans, 
a man cursing himself in most horrible language. He stepped up to 
the man and asked him, ' ' My friend, do you know the meaning of the 
Mvord Amen? ^^ "Of course I do," replied the man, "it means, so 
may it be.^^ " Now, ' ' said the milkdealer, ' ' consider how angry you 
would be, if some one would say Amen to all your curses, which you 
have uttered against your poor eyes and feeble limbs ! But now, if God 
should say Amen to them, what would then become of you ? ' ' The 
milkdealer related this conversation to his neighbors, when one of 
them, a short time after, told him that a man had been received into a 
neighboring church, who said that a milkdealer had reproved him for 
his cursing and swearing, which was the means, in the hand of God, to 
convince him of his sins, and induce him to seek the forgiveness of his 
sins. 



248 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

The Catechism begins with articles of faith — ^what we are to believe 
concerning God. It then considers what duty God requires of man, 
treating first of the ten commandments of the law as the general duty 
of man, and secondly of the particular duties of the sinner under the 
gospel. The concluding parts treat of the means of grace — the word, 
sacraments, and prayer. Under the last the Lord's Prayer is made, 
very appropriately, to end the series of questions and answers. — Steel. 

The following beautiful paraphrase of the Lord's Prayer has been 
credited to a Frenchman — M. Pierre Bernard ; but in the Life of the 
Rev. William Marsh, D. D. , so long known and so highly esteemed in 
England, it is stated that during a wakeful night Dr. Marsh composed 
it, and that it was written down from his dictation the next morning. 
Comparing the two versions, the one ascribed to M. Bernard is more 
full ; but it may be merely an amplification of that of Dr. Marsh. We 
give the following compilation from both, as a fitting conclusion to 
this Exposition of the Lord's Prayer : — 

THE I^ORD'S PRAYKR PARAPHRASED. 

Our Father — 

By right of creation. 

By bountiful provision. 

By gracious adoption ; 
Which art in heaven — 

The throne of thy glory. 

The home of thy children. 

The temple of thy angels ; 
Hallowed be thy name — 

By the thoughts of our hearts, 

By the words of our lips, 

By the works of our hands. 
Thy kingdom come — 

Of providence to defend us. 

Of grace to refine us, 

Of glory to crown us. 
Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven — 

Towards us without resistance, 

By us without compulsion. 

Universally without exception. 

Eternally without declension. 
Give us this day our daily bread — 

Of necessity for our bodies. 

Of eternal life for our souls. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 249 

And forgive us our trespasses — 

Against the commands of thy law, 

Against the grace of thy gospel ; 
As we]^forgive those that trespass against us — 

By defaming our character, 

By embezzling our property, 

By abusing our person. 

And^lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil — 
Of overwhelming afflictions, 
Of worldly enticements, 
Of Satan's devices, 
Of error's seductions, 
Of sinful affections. 

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever — 

Thy kingdom governs all, 

Thy power subdues all. 

Thy glory is above all. 
Amen — 

As it is in thy purpose. 

So it is in thy promises ; 

So be it in our prayers. 

So it shall be to thy praise. 

By this prayer of our Lord — 

The Father bless. 

The Son adore, 

The Spirit praise, 

For evermore. Amen and Amen. — Steel. 

MATTHIAS CI^AUDIUS' EXPOSITION OF THE LORD'S PRAYER. 

The above named distinguished German Christian author has writ- 
ten a classical exposition of the Lord's Prayer, in a letter to his friend 
Andres, which we will try to translate, although it will be difficult to 
render many of his idiomatic German phrases into good English. 
This exposition contains, like a good prayer -j^ze/ words, but many 
and deep meanings : 

" The Lord's Prayer is, once for all, the best prayer, for you know 
who composed it. But no man on God's earth, can so pra}^ it, as he 
meant it ; we mutilate it only from a distance, one of us more mis- 
erably than the other. But that will do no harm, dear Andres, if we only 
mean it right, {gut meinen,) the dear God {Liebe Gott) must always 
do the best for us, and he knows how it ought to be. As you have re- 



250 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

quested it, I will tell you sincerely, how I use the Lord's Prayer. But 
I think it is only very poorly done, and I would gladly let some one 
instruct me how to do it better. • 

See now, when I want to pray, then I think first of my sainted 
father, who was so good and kind to me, and gave me so willingly 
what I needed. And then I imagine {stell ntir vor) that the whole 
world is my Father's house : and all the people in Europe, Asia, Africa 
and America, are, in my mind, nly brothers and sisters ; and God sits 
in heaven on a golden throne, and stretches his right hand over the 
sea, to the end of the world, and his left hand is full of blessing and 
goodness, and the tops of the mountains round about are crowned with 
glory— then I begin : 

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. 

This, already, I do not yet fully understand. It is said that the 
Jews had some special mysteries about the names of God. I will let 
this pass {lasse gut sein,) and only wish that the idea {Andenken) of 
God, and every trace ( pur), by which we can know him, maybe above 
all things great and holy to me and all mankind. 

Ihy kingdom come 

At this I think about myself, as things go hither and thither within 
me ; now this and now that controls, which causes all kinds of heart 
aches. And then I think, how good it would be for me, if God would 
make an end of all strife, and he himself would rule within me ! 

Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. 

Here I think of heaven, with the holy angels who joyfully do His 
will ; whom no pain or sorrow afflicts, and who overflow with love 
and happiness, in which they rejoice, day and night. And then I 
think, O, if it were also thus on earth ! 

Give us this day our daily bread. 

Every one knows, what ' ' daily bread ' ' means, and that we must 
eat, as long as we are in the world, and that it also tastes good. Then 
I think about this. My children also come into my mind : how they 
enjoy their meals and eagerly reach out for their food. And then I 
pray, that the dear God {Lie be Gott) would give us something to eat. 

And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who have tres- 
passed against us. 

It hurts, when we are injured, and revenge is sweet. Thus it ap- 
pears also to me, and I feel an inclination in that way. But then the 
wicked servant {Schalks knecht) in the gospel comes up before mine 
eyes, and my heart sinks, and I resolve to forgive my fellow-servant, 
and never say a word about those hundred pennies. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 



251 



And lead us not into temptation. 

Here I think of all kinds of instances, where people under such 
and such circumstances departed from the good, and fell, and that this 
might also happen to me. 

But deliver us from evil. 

Here I think of the temptations to which we are exposed, and that 
we are so easily led astray, and lured from the right way. But at the 
same time I also think of all the ills of life, of consumption and old 
age, trouble with children, gangrene, and delirium, and the thousand 
kinds of misery and heartaches in the world, which torment and dis- 
tress the poor people, while none can help. And you will find, dear 
Andres, that if the tears have not come before, they will certainly 
come now, and we long so heartily to be delivered, and feel so sad and 
cast down, as if there were no help at all. But then we must take 
caurage again {sich Muth machen), lay our hands upon our mouths, 
and exclaim triumphantly, Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and 
the glory for ever. Amen. ' ' 



^52 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 



PART IV. 

THE SACRAMENT OF HOLY BAPTISM. 

2()o. What is a Sacrament ? 

A Sacrament is a holy ordinance, instituted by Christ, 
whereby, Under visible signs, or elements, in connection 
with the word of God, divine grace is offered and sealed to 
believers. 

2gi. From what is the word Sacrament derived? 

The word " Sacrament " is derived from the Latin word 
Saramentum, which signifies something sacred or holy, and 
was applied to the oath by which the Roman soldiers 
bound themselves to be faithful to their general, and was 
adopted by the early christians to express their fidelity to 
Jesus as the Captain of their salvation. 

2^2. What are the typical Sacraments in the Old 
Testament? 

The Sacraments of the Old Testament were Circum- 
cision and the Passover. 

Genesis xvii. 1-14. I will make a covenant with thee, (Abram), etc. 

Kxodus xii. 3-9. Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, 
saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every 
man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an 
house, etc. 

Romans iv. 11. And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal 
of the righteousness of the faith, which he had, yet being uncircum- 
cised ; that he might be the father of all them that believe. 

2gj. What are the Sacraments of the New Testament ? 

The Sacraments of the New Testament are Baptism 

and the Lord's Supper. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 253 

2^^. What relation do these two Sacraments bear to 
each other? 

By Baptism we enter into a covenant with the Triune 
God ; by the Lord's Supper, this covenant is renewed, con- 
firmed and sealed. 

Jeremiah xxxi. 31. Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I 
will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house 
of Judah. 

Ephesians v. 25, 26. Christ also loved the church and gave him- 
self for it ; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of 
water by the word. 

KXPIyANATORY NOTEJS. 

Definitions of a Sacrament : 

Lutheran : A Sacrament is a holy ordinance, instituted by Christ, 
whereby, under visible signs, or elements, in connection with the word 
of God, divine grace is offered and sealed to believers. 

Ger. Reformed : A holy ordinance, instituted by Christ, whereby, 
under visible signs, and seals, divine grace is offered and applied to 
believers. 

Episcopal : An outward and visible sign of an inward and spiri- 
tual grace given us ; ordained by Christ himself, as a means whereby 
we receive the same, and a pledge to assure us thereof. 

Presbyterian : A Sacrament is a holy ordinance instituted by 
Christ ; wherein by sensible signs, Christ, and the benefits of the new 
covenant, are represented, sealed and applied to believers 
I. The Author of the Sacraments. Christ, as the Head of his 
Church : Bph. i. 22. He appointed the ordinances of the New 
Testament. His express warrant is required for the obse r- 
vance of Sacraments. 
II. The signs in the Sacraments. They are sensible ; they can be 
seen, touched, and tasted. They are signs of spiritual matters. 
These signs are of. Christ's appointment. The significant 
actions in use in the Sacraments are also of his appointment. 
III. The design of the Sacram,ents. 

1. To represent Christ and the benefits of the new covenant. 

Christ's person and works are set forth by them in relation 
to believers. 

2. To seal Christ and the benefits of the new covenant to believ- 

ers. The Sacraments are signs and pledges on his part, by 
which he engages to fulfil the covenant Those who believe 
on him receive the sacraments in this sense. 



254 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

3. To apply Christ and the benefits of the new covenant to 
believers. The signs are channels of the things signified. 
Faith by the sign takes hold of the thing signified. As the 
sign is sensibly applied, so the spiritual blessing is received 
by faith. 
IV. The proper recipients of the Sactaments. These are believers 
only. They have a relation to Christ by faith. 

1.KSSONS. 

1. Sacraments cannot save. 

2. Every lover of Christ loves what he has appointed. — Steel. 
The New Testament Sacraments come in place of those under the 

Old Testament. They refer to the same spiritual truths, but occupy a 
different position. The one class pointed to the future, the other 
points to the past. Circumcision referred to the spiritual cleansing, 
as Baptism does ; and the Passover was a feast upon the lamb slain, as 
the lyord's Supper is a feast upon the bread and wine, emblems of the 
body and blood of Christ. 

I. Baptism was appointed by Christ himself as an ordinance or 
Sacrament of his church. Though John baptized, yet it was 
not Christian baptism. It was not in the name of the Father, 
the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Christ expressly appointed the 
formula of baptism : Matt, xxviii. 19. 
II. The Lord's Supper was instituted by Christ. This was done on 
the night on which he was betrayed. The apostle refers to 
this as his authority for the sacred ordinance : i Cor. xi. 23. 
III. These are the only Sacram,ents of ine New Testament appointed 
by Christ. They have an outward visible sign, and an in- 
ward spiritual grace. No other ordinances in the New Testa- 
ment have such appointed signs. 

I^ESSONS. 

1. The way of salvation is the same under the New as under the 
Old Testament. 

2. The sacraments point to the same essential truths of salvation. 
— Steel. 

Old Testament types of the New Testament Sacrament of Bap- 
tism : I. Circumcision; 2. The Flood, (i Peter iii. 21, etc,); 3. The 
passage through the Red Sea, (i Cor. x. 2); 4. The pillar of cloud in 
the wilderness, (Exodus xiv. 19; 5. Naaman's washing in Jordan, 
(2 Kings V. 14). 

Of the Lord's Supper: i. The Passover; 2. The manna, (Ex. xvi. 
15)1 3- ^^^ water from the smitten rock, (Ex. xvii. and i Cor. x. 1-5). 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 255 

ANECDOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

In classical usage the word ' ' sacramentum ' ' means in general 
something sacred. In legal proceedings, the money deposited by con- 
tending parties was called ' * sacramentum, ' ' because when forfeited it 
was applied to sacred purposes. In military usage it expressed the 
obligation of a soldier to his leader or his country ; then the oath by 
which he was bound ; and generally an oath. In ecclesiastical use it 
was something , sacred ; then something secret or mysterious; then a 
sign of a mystery. 

" On Sabbath last," said a good man, "we were enabled to keep 
the New Testament passover. It was a good day, a day of salvation. 
At the sacret banquet my heart melted, and the tears flowed plenti- 
fully from my eyes ; but they were tears of joy— my heart was full. 

On Monday Mr. B preached from these words, ' And one shall say, 

I am the Lord's ' Oh, what a sermon to me ? My heart made the 
happy claim and cheerful surrender again and again. My soul said, 
*I am the Lord's ; ' and with my heart I subscribed it, and I hope and 
believe will never unsay it. ' ' 

' * Sweet was the hour I freedom felt 
To call my Jesus mine. 
To see his smiling face, and melt 
In pleasures all divine. 

' ' ' Truly I am thy servant ; I am thy servant, and the son of thine 
handmaid : thou hast loosed my bonds. ' Why me, O Lord, why me ? 
What am I, or what is my father's house, that thou hast brought me 
hitherto?" 

' ' Low in adoration bending, 

Now our hearts our God revere ; 
Faith her aid to sight is lending, — 

Though unseen, the Lord is near ; 
Ancient types and shadows ending, 
Christ our pascbal lamb is here." 

Circumcision was instituted about nineteen hundred years before 
the incarnation of Christ, and doubtless looked forward to him who 
was to come. It was a sign of the covenant which God made, or 
rather renewed, with Abraham his friend in the hundredth year of his 
age : Gen. xvii. Circumcision represented ovu: natural pollution and 
depravity, together with the necessity of regeneration, or of being cut 
off from the first Adam as a federal head and representative, and of 
being ingrafted into Christ, the second Adam, and washed in his all- 



256 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

cleansing blood : Rom. ii. 28, 29. It was the initiatory Sacrament 
under the Old Testament dispensation, as Baptism is under the New. 
Both substantially represent the same thing— the one the putting off 
of the sins of the flesh, and the other the washing of them away in the 
blood of Jesus. 

' * The Passover was instituted on the occasion of the deliverance 
of the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt ; and it had a most 
important meaning with respect to Christ, who was to come : Ex. xii. 
No sooner did the destroying angel observe the blood sprinkled where 
it ought to be, according to the divine command, than he viewed it as 
their refuge ; so that this evidenced obedience to the divine command, 
and faith in the blood of Christ which was to be shed. And without 
doubt this sprinkling of blood typified that it is only in virtue of the 
blood or satisfaction of Christ that the danger arising from sin can be 
averted — namely, the curse of the law and the wrath of God, which 
shall assuredly overtake all those who are not under the sprinkling of 
the blood of Jesus : Rom. v. 9." — Pater son. 

The five additional Sacraments of the Romish church were not 
appointed as ordinances by Christ. 

Confirmation^ by the laying on of the bishop's hands, along with 
the sign of the cross and the anointing with oil, has no scriptural 
authority. 

Penance^ or repentance, is a state of mind, and not an outward 
form. Contrition, auricular confession, satisfaction, and absolution 
by a priest, are not a divine appointment. 

Sacred Orders, or oidination to ofiice in the church, was instituted 
by Christ, but is no symbol of grace. 

Matrimony is no special institution of the Christian church, but is 
common to all mankind. 

Extreme unction, or the anointing of a dying person's eyes, ears, 
nostrils, mouth, hands, feet, etc., with olive oil by a priest, has no 
appointment by Christ 

They have no claim to be Sacraments in the church, and some of 
them are connected with fundamental errors condemned by the Scrip- 
tures. 

BAPTISM. 

^95- ^hat is Baptism ? 

Baptism is not simply water, but it is the water com- 
prehended in God's command, and connected with God's 
word. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 25/ 

2g6. What is that word of God ? 

It is that which our Lord Jesus Christ spake, as it is 
recorded in the last chapter of Matthew, verse 19 : " Go ye 
and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the 
Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost." 

THE NATURE OF BAPTISM. 

2gy. When and by whom was Christian Baptism in- 
stituted ? 

Christian Baptism was instituted by Christ on the day 

of his ascension. 

Matthew xx\4ii, 19. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, bap- 
tizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost. 

2^8. What is a Covenant f 

A covenant is a mutual promise between two or more 
persons to do something for each other. 

2gg. In what does the Baptismal Covenant consist ? 

The Baptismal Covenant consists in the promise which 
the Triune God makes to man, and the promise which man 
makes to God. 

joo. What blessings does the Triune God promise to us 
in Baptism ? 

1. God the Father promises us the adoption into the 

family of his children ; 

Galatians iii. 26, 27, For ye are all the children of God by faith 
in Christ Jesus ; for as many of you as have been baptized into Christ, 
have put on Christ. 

2. God the Son promises us salvation through the 
merits of his atonement ; 

Romans vi. 3, 4. Know ye not that as many of us as were bap- 
tized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death ? Therefore, we 
are buried with him by baptism into death ; that like as Christ was 
raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also 
should walk in newness of life. 

Mark xvi. 16. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. 

3. And the Holy Ghost promises his gifts. 

Titus iii. 5-9. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, 
but according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration 
and renewin - of the Holy Ghost, etc. 



258 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

JO I. What does man promise to God in his Baptismal 
Covenant ? 

Man promises in his Baptismal Covenant to renounce 
the devil, that is, his services ; and his works, that is sin ; 
and all his ways, that is everything in which he might be- 
come like Satan ; and he promises to serve the Triune God 
faithfully until death. 

J 02. Who are proper subjects for Baptism f 

All who have truly repented of their sins, and believe 
on the Lord Jesus Christ, are proper subjects ior Christian 

Baptism. 

Matthew xxviii, 19. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, bap- 
tizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost. 

joj. Should children also be baptized? 

Children of believing parents should be baptized, 

because, 

1. They are held in high esteem in the eyes of God, 

and Christ, who has redeemed them also by his blood. 

Jonah iv. 11. Should not I spare Ninevah, that great city, 
wherein are more than six score thousand persons, that cannot discern 
between their right hand and their left ? 

Matthew xviii. 10. Take heed that ye dispise not one of these 
little ones ; for I say unto you, that in heaven their angels do always 
behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. 

2. They belong to the nations whom Christ has com- 
manded to be taught and baptized. 

Acts ii. 39. For the promise is unto you and your children, and 
to all that are afar off, even as many as the lyord, our God shall call. 

Matthew xxviii. 19. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, bap- 
tizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost. 

3. They belong to the kingdom of Christ, and are 

therefore, entitled to all the means of grace in that kingdom. 
Matthew xix. 14-15. But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and 
forbid them not to come unto me, for of such is the kingdom of 
heaven. And he laid his hands on them. 

4. In the Old Testament the children were received 
into the covenant of God by circumcision, which is the 
type of the Sacrament of Baptism. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 259 

Genesis xvii. 13, He that is born in thy house, and he that is 
"bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised ; and my covenant 
shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant, 

5. In the New Testament, when the heads of families 
believed and were baptized, their whole households, consist- 
ing partly of children, were also baptized. Instances are, The 
households of Cornelius, Lydia, the Phillipian Jailer and 
the household of Stephanus. 

6. Origen, who was born only eighty-five years after 
St. John died, and other christian fathers, assert that infant 
baptism was handed down to their age from the days of the 
apostles ? 

7. At the council of Carthage, in the year 253, the 
question was proposed, " Should children be baptized on 
the second, third or eighth day after their birth, in like 
manner as the children of the Israelites were circumcised 
on the eighth day ? " There was, therefore, no doubt 
among these early Christians in regard to the Baptism of 
infants. 

jo^. What are the benefits of Baptism ? 

It causes* the forgiveness of sin, delivers from death 
and the devil, and gives everlasting salvation to those that 
believe, as the word and promise of God declare. 

Mark i. 4. John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the 
baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. 

Titus iii. 5. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, 
but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regenera- 
tion, and renewing of the Holy Ghost. 

Colossians ii. 12. Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye 
are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who 
hath raised him from the dead. 

J 05. Which are these words and promises of God? 

Those, in which our Lord declares, Mark xvi. 16: 
" He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved ; but he 
that believeth not, shall be damned." 



* That is, it is one of the appointments for obtaining those 
blessings. 



260 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

I Peter iii. 21. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also 
now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the 
answer of a good conscience toward God, ) by the resurrection of Jesus 
Christ. 

Hebrews xi. 6. But without faith it is impossible to please hint ; 
for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a 
rewarder of them that diligently seek him. 

J 06. How may the benefits of Baptism be designated? 

The benefits of Baptism may be designated as two-fold ; 
namely, external or visible, and internal, spiritual or invis- 
ible. 

J07. What are the external or visible benefits of Baptism ? 

By Baptism we are admitted into the visible church of 
Christ, entitled to all the privileges of church membership 
and the enjoyment of the means of grace, in like manner as 
the naturalization of a foreigner entitles him to all the priv- 
ileges of citizenship, in the country to which he has sworn 
allegiance. 

J08. What are the spiritual o? invisible benefits of Bap- 
tism ? 

The spiritual benefits of Baptism may be stated nega- 
tively and positively : 

1. Negatively: Baptism is of no spiritual benefit to an 
unbeliever, or to a person who has no knowledge of the word 
of God, and has had no instruction in the doctrines of the 
Christian religion. 

2. Positively : As in ou^' Baptismal covenant we re- 
nounce the devil, the world, and the flesh, and profess our 
faith in the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, 
whom we profess to love with all our heart, mind, soul and 
spirit, and to serve with all the faculties of our minds and 
the energies of our bodies, so God, on his part, grants us 
faith, the forgiveness of our sins and imputes to us the right- 
eousness of Christ, spiritual life and salvation, and the inher- 
itance of the kingdom of heaven. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 



261 



Note I. In the case of adults, repentance and faith is 
required before Baptism ; for, without faith, such, indeed, 
receive Baptism, but deprive themselves of its benefits by 
neglecting, or violating the terms of the Baptismal cove- 
nant. 

Acts viii. 37. And Philip said, " If thou believest with all thine 
heart, thou mayest (be baptized). And he answered and said, I believe 
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. 

Acts ii. 38. Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized. 

Acts ii. 41 . Then they that gladly received his word were baptized. 

See also the accounts of the Baptism of Cornelius, Acts 
V. 29-42; Lydia, Acts xvi. 15, and the Philippian jailer, 
Acts xvi. 33, all of which indicate faith before Baptism. 

Examples of such as were not benefitted by Baptism 
for want of true faith : Ananias and Saphira^ Acts v. i-ii ; 
Simon Magus, Acts viii. 9-24. 

Note 2. In the case of infants, /<2//>%, or at least, mem- 
bership in the Christian church, is required of the parents or 
sponsors who present the child for Baptism. 

^o^. How can water produce such great effects ? 

1. It is not the water that produces them, but the 
Word of God, which is connected with the water ; 

2. For without the Word of God, the water is mere 
water, and no Baptism. 

3. But with the Word of God it is a Baptism ; that is, 
a merciful water of life, and a laver of regeneration in the 
Holy Ghost, as St. Paul says to Titus : 

Titus iii. 5. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, 
but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regenera- 
tion, and renewing of the Holy Ghost ; 

Titus iii. 6. Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus 
Christ our Savior. 

4. ** According to his mercy hath he saved us by the 
washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy 
Ghost ; which he hath shed on us abundantly through 
Jesus Christ our Savior," that thereby we might be made 



262 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

righteous, and be heirs according to the hope of everlasting 
life. 

Galatians iii. 26. For ye are all the children of God by faith in 
Christ Jesus. 

Galatians iii. 27. For as many of you as have been baptized into 
Christ have put on Christ 

J 10. What are the means by which these benefits of 

Baptism are conferred and received ? 

The means of imparting and of receiving the benefits 

of Baptism are the following : 

I. On the part of the administrator, 

1. By the use of the words of the institution. 

2. By the questions asked of the person to be bap- 

tized, (or in the case of infants, of the parents or 
sponsors,) whether he will faithfully enter into, 
accept and carry out the conditions of the Bap- 
tismal covenant. 

3. The act of baptizing by pouring or sprinkling water 

upon the person to be baptized. 

Ephesians v. 26. That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the 
washing of water by the word. 

I Peter iii. 21. The like figure (Noah saved from the floods where- 
unto even baptism doth also now save us ) not the putting away of the 
filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) 
by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

II. On the part of the person to be baptized, 

1. That he confidently believe and trust the Word 

connected with the water ; 

2. That he heartily and with a good conscience enter 

into and accept the Baptismal covenant. 
J//. What does such baptizing with water signify f 

1. It signifies that the Old Adam in us is to be 
drowned and destroyed by daily sorrow and repentance, 
together with all sins and evil lusts ; 

2. And that again the New Man should daily come 
forth and rise, that shall live in the presence of God in righ- 
teousness and purity forever. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 263 

THE MEANING, DUTIES AND EFFECTS OF BAPTISM. 

J 12. What is meant by the words, ** The Old Adam f 

The words, " Old Adam," signify original sin, or de- 
pravity, which is a natural disposition to do evil, and is so 
called, because we have inherited it from our first parents. 

J /J. In what does ofiginal sin consist ? 

Original sin consists in a destitution of every thing 
that is good in man, and an inclination to every thing that 
is evil, which leads to the commission of actual sin, and ex- 
tends over the whole man ; namely, his understanding, will, 
walk and conversation. 

Romans iii. 23. For all have sinned and come short of the glory 
of God. 

Romans iii. 11. There is none that understandeth, there is none 
that seeketh after God. 

Romans iii. 12. They are all gone out of the way, they are to- 
gether become unprofitable ; there is none that doeth good, no, not 
one. 

J 14.. Why is natural depravity called ''The Old AdamV 
Natural depravity is called The Old Adam, because it 

began with Adam, the first man, and cleaves to us through 

life, and we grow old with it. 

J 75. What is meant by the words, '' The new man?'' 
By the words " new man " is meant the divine image 
and likeness in which man was created. 

J 7(5. Why is he called " The new man?'' 
He is called " The new man," because the new or re- 
generated nature extends over the whole man, as to his 
body and soul, his will, his memory, etc., which becomes 
manifest by his walk and conversation ; and he becomes 
a new man through faith. 

Romans vi. 13. Neither yield ye your members as instruments 
of unrighteousness unto sin : but yield yourselves unto God, as those 
that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of 
righteousness unto God. 

J77. What is meant by the words, " The nezv man shall 

c<mie forth and rise .^ " 



264 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

The words, " The new man shall come forth and rise," 
mean, that this renewal shall be wrought in us and continue 
more and more. 

Romans vi. 3. Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized 
into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death ? 

Romans vi. 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into 
death : that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of 
the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 

J 18. Where is this recorded f 

St. Paul, in the Epistle to the Romans, chapter vi., verse 
4, says : '^ We are buried with Christ by Baptism into death; 
that like as he was raised up from the dead by the glory of 
the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." 

^ig. What is meant by being " buried with Christ in 
Baptism?'' 

Being buried with Christ means, 

1. That we appropriate the merits of Christ's death 
to ourselves. 

2. That we derive from his death life and resurrection, 
and 

3. That we frequently renew our Baptismal covenant, 
and continue to live in covenant with God. 

4. For by being unfaithful to our covenant, we become 
covenant breakers. 

^20. What is meant by " Shall be drowned and de- 
stroyed?'' 

The meaning of these words is that the natural deprav- 
ity in us shall be suppressed and overcome, although it 
may be difficult and painful. 

^21. By what means shall this natural depravity be 
suppressed and overcome. 

Our natural depravity is to be suppressed by daily sor- 
sow and repentance, which is produced by contemplation of 
the violated covenant and its sad results. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 265 

EXPIvANATORY NOTES. 

Definitions of Baptism : 

Lutheran : Baptism is not simply water, but it is the water com- 
prehended in God's command and connected with God's word. 

Ger. Reformed : Baptism is a covenant of grace of the Triune 
God with man, whereby God promises forgiveness and salvation, and 
man vows obedience and devotion to him. 

Ej iscopal : Baptism is an outward and visible sign of an inward 
and spiritual grace given unto us, ordained by Christ himself, as a 
means whereby we recieve the same, and a pledge to assure us thereof. 

Fresbyierian : Baptism is a sacrament wherein the washing with 
water in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
Ghost, doth signify and seal our ingrafting into Christ, and partaking 
of the benefits of the covenant of grace, and our engagement to be the 
Lord's. 

Sciiptural Examples. John's Baptism of repentance, Luke iii. 3, 
Matt. xxi. 25 ; The disciples of Jesus, John iv. i, 2, 3 ; iii. 25, 26 ; 
Christ's Baptism, Matt. iii. 13-15 ; The divine institution of Baptism, 
Matt, xxviii. 19; The Baptism of the first believers. Acts ii. 41 ; of the 
Eunuch, Acts viii. 35 ; of the disciples at Ephesus, Acts xix. 1-8. 

BAPTISM OF CHII.DREN INDICATED. 

Mark x. 13-16 ; Children Baptized in Christian families, Acts ii. 

39 ; I Cor. vii. 14 ; Lydia and her house, Acts xvi. 14, 15 ; The jailer 

at Philippi, Acts xvi. 33. 

I. 1 He sign used in Baptism. Water. 

1. Because of its cleansing properties. 

2. Because it is thus made to represent the blood and Spirit of 

Christ, which cleanse the soul. 
The mode of Baptism is by pouring, sprinkling, or dipping. 
II. The formula of Baptism. The words to be used were prescribed 
by Christ himself, and to be in the name of the Father, of the 
Son, and of the Holy Ghost. The three persons in the God- 
head are equally engaged in salvation. 
III. 1 he design 0/ Baptism. It teaches great truths connected with 

salvation. 

1. It signifies and seals our ingrafting into Christ. The soul 

must be as closely united to Christ as the branch is to the 
tree. This is pledged by Christ to all his believing people. 

2. It signifies and seals our partaking of the benefits of the 

covenant of grace. These are, pardon of sin, Acts. ii. 38 ; 
regeneration, Titus iii. 5 ; and the resurrection to life ever- 
lasting, Rom. vi. 4. 



266 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 



3. It signifies and seals our engagement to be the Lord's. 
(i.) It is a profession of faith in him as our Savior. 
(2.) It is a public form of joining the communion of the visible 

church. 
(3.) It binds us, therefore, to be the Lord's. 

IvESSONS. 

1. The Baptism of the Spirit is essential : John iii. 5. 

2. All who are Baptized into Christ should put on Christ : Gal. 
iii. 27. — Steel. 

" It is admitted — i. That Baptism is a sign, and that the blessing 
which it signifies is purification from sin. 2. That the theocratical 
purifications, having the same general import, were effected by im- 
mersion, affusion, and sprinkling. 3. That the soul is cleansed from 
the guilt of sin by the blood of Christ. 4. That under the Old Testa- 
ment the application of the blood of the sacrifices for sin was expressed 
by the act of sprinkling. It was sprinkled on the people (Bx. xxiv. 8) 
for whose benefit the sacrifices were offered ; it was sprinkled upon 
the altar ; and, by the high priest, upon the mercy-seat. In the New 
Testament the application of the blood of Christ is expressed by the 
same word : i Peter i. 2 ; Heb. xii. 24. 5, It is admitted, further, that 
the purification of the soul from the moral pollution of sin is effected 
by the renewing of the Holy Ghost. 6. It is admitted that the com- 
munication of the sanctifying influences of the Spirit is expressed in 
the use of two familiar figures, that of anointing with oil, and that of 
the pouring of water. Kings, priests, and prophets were anointed. 
The people of God are called his * anointed ' : i John ii. 20, 27. The 
other figure is no less familiar : Isa. xxxii. 15 ; Joel ii#28. The Spirit's 
influences are compared to rain which waters the earth, and to the 
dew which falls on the mown grass. From all this it appears that the 
truth symbolized in Baptism may be signified by immersion, affusion, 
or sprinkling ; but that the ordinance is most significant and most 
conformed to Scripture when administered by affusion or sprinkling. ' ' 
— Hodge. 

ANECDOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

The Rev. Titus Coan, D. D., missionary at the Sandwich Islands, 
in the course of forty years baptized 13,000 persons. Of these, 5,000 
were baptized in one year, and 1,700 in one day, at a great period of 
awakening in 1838. Of the last number he says that more water 
flowed from their eyes than he sprinkled on their faces. 

' * If the church is one under both dispensations, if infants were 
members of the church under the theocracy, then they are members 
of the church now, unless the contrary can be proved." — Df, Hodge. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM, 



267 



"A credible profession of Christianity is all that the church may 
require in order to communion. She may be deceived ; her utmost 
caution may be, and often has been, ineffectual to keep bad men from 
the sanctuary ; and this, too, without her fault, as she is not omnis- 
cient. But she has no right to suspect sincerity, to refuse privileges, 
or inflict censure, where she can put her finger upon nothing repug- 
nant to the love or the laws of God." — Dr, Mason. 

"It is plain that, according to the standards of the Reformed 
Church, it is the children of the members of the visible church who 
are to be baptized. Agreeably to scriptural usage, such members are 
called ^/cedeyati,^ saints, believers, faithful, holy brethren, partakers 
of the heavenly calling. The apostles, in addressing professing Chris- 
tians, in the use of such terms did not express any judgment of their 
state in the sight of God. They designated them according to their 
profession. 

" I. The visible church has always consisted of those who pro- 
fessed the true religion, together with their children. 

"2. The terms of church membership under both dispensations 
have been the same — namely, profession of faith, and promise of obe- 
dience. 

* ' 3. The requirements for participation in the sacraments have 
been the same. That is, any one entitled to the rite of circumcision 
was entitled to partake of the passover ; those under the Christian dis- 
pensation entitled to baptism are entitled to the Lord's Supper. Those 
who, unbaptized, would be entitled to baptism for themselves, are 
entitled, and they only, to present their children for baptism. 

"Those, therefore, who have been themselves baptized and still 
profess their faith in the true religion, who have competent knowledge 
and are free from scandal, should not only be permitted but urged and 
enjoined to present their children for baptism, that they may belong 
to the church, and be brought up under its watch and care." — 
Abridged /rom Dr. Hodge. 

"I spent some time," says Mr. J. Baily, of New England, "in 
offering up myself and my child to the Lord, and in taking hold of 
the covenant for myself and him. It is actually to be done to-morrow 
in baptism. I prayed hard to-day that I might receive help from the 
Lord. It is not easy, though common, to offer a child to God in bap- 
tism. Oh, that is a sweet word, * I will be a God unto thee, and to thy 
seed after thee.' No wonder Abraham fell on his face at the hearing 
of it." 



268 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

Mr. Philip Henry drew up the following short form of the baptis- 
mal covenant, for the use of his children. ♦ 

" I take God, the Father, to be my chiefest good and highest end. 

I take God, the Son, to be my Prince and Savior. 

I take God, the Holy Ghost, to be my sanctifier, teacher, guide 
and comforter. 

I take the word of God to be my rule in all my actions. 

And the people of God to be my people in all conditions. 

I do likewise devote and dedicate unto the Lord, my whole self, 
all I am, all I have, and all I can do. 

And this I do deliberately, sincerely, freely, and for ever. ' ' 

This he taught his children, and they each of them solemnly 
repeated it every I/Ord's day in the evening, after they were catechised, 
he putting his Amen to it, and sometimes adding, ' ' So say, and so 
do, and you are made for ever. ' ' 

A Greenlander, who for many years had communication with the 
Moravian missionaries, but could never resolve to forsake his land, 
where he was held in great respect, being at the Capelin fishery, got a 
sight of his daughter, who had removed from him, and was baptized, 
and showed his resentment at it. But she modestly told him the 
reasons that induced her to it ; set forth the happiness of believers, 
concluding with these words : "So happy may you also be ; but if you 
will not, I cannot stay and perish with you. This softened his heart, 
and he began to weep, went with her to the missionary, and declared, 
his intention now was, not to take away his daughter from the bap- 
tized, but rather go with her. He expressed his resolution to remain 
with the missionaries, and his wish that the rest of his children might 
be baptized. " As to myself," said he, " I dare not think of baptism, 
as I am very bad, and old too, and incapable of learning much more ; 
but yet I will live and die with you, for it is very reviving to me, to 
hear of our Savior. ' ' 

As an instance of the misapplication and abuse of the sacred 
ordinance of baptism, the author of the Protestant^ publishes in that 
excellent work, a description sent him by a correspondent, of the cere- 
mony of the baptism of a bell^ which took place at Naples. A noble 
lord was godfather to the bell, and a lady of quality was godmother. 
Most of the prayers said on the occasion, ended with the following 
words : " That thou wouldst be pleased to rinse, purify, sanctify, and 
consecrate these bells with thy heavenly benediction." The follow- 
ing were the words of consecration : ' ' Let the sign be consecrated and 
sanctified in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 269 

Ghost." The bishop then turning to the people, said, "The bell's 
name is Mary. ' ' He had previously demanded of the godfather and 
godmother, what name they would have put upon the bell, and the 
lady gave it this name. 

A gentleman in Vermont, who had lived to middle age without 
religion and without family prayers, was thus accosted by his little 
son, not quite seven years old : " Papa, you have taught me to pray 
morning and evening, and now I want to know if you ever pray .^" 
The father, conscious of his failure in this duty, and astonished at this 
unexpected question, was at a loss for a reply. At length recollecting 
that he had sometimes attempted to pray in secred, replied, ' ' I hope I 
have sometimes endeavored to pray that you might be a good boy, and 
that I might also be enabled to do my duty. ' ' The child replied, 

"Well, papa, Mr. and Mrs. pray in their families, and sometimes, 

when they have been here, you have asked them to pray. Is it 
wicked Pa ? " " O no, my child, all good people pray, and it is right 
they should. " " Well, papa, if it is right they should, is it not right 
that you should ? " "I suppose it would be, my son, if my heart was 
right." " Well, papa, were my sister and I ever baptized?" " No," 
says the father, sighing with a heavy heart ; ' ' No, you are neither of 
you baptized." " Why not papa ? I have seen several little children 
baptized, when I have been at meeting. Is it wicked, papa, to baptize 
children? " " O no, my son, I do not conceive it to be wicked, but I 
cannot get you baptized. " " Why not, papa ? " " Because I do not 
belong to the church." " Why do you not belong to the church, 
papa ? is it wicked ! " " O no, my son ; nothing, I suppose, debars 
me, but my own wicked heart. " " Well, pa, if it is right you should, 
why will you not belong to the church, and so get sister and me bap- 
tized?" 

These solemn inquiries were directed by the Holy Spirit to the 
conversion of the father, who soon commenced family prayer, and is 
now a distinguished member of the church. 

He who is born but once must die twice ; but he who has been 
twice born will die only once. — Ger. Proverb. 

Our forefathers used to kiss their little children after they were 
baptized, sa3dng, ' ' My darling, before you were my child, now you 
are God's child." 

When jjaint Remigius, of Rhiems, baptized king Chlodwig, he 
consecrated him with these words : ' ' Burn what thou hast heretofore 
worshiped, and worship what thou didst formerly bum. ' ' 



270 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

After Adalgisus, king of Friesland, had been baptized, Bbrain, 
duke of Frankonia, wrote him a letter, in which he promised him a 
rich reward, if he would apostatize from the Christian religion. But 
Adalgisus threw the letter into the fire in the presence of his courtiers, 
and said, * ' Just as this paper is burned, so may he burn who breaks 
the covenant which he has made with a friend. ' ' 

The Old Adam shall not only die, but shall also be buried, and it. 
is the new man that buries him. — Ger. Proverb. 

An aged heathen woman in the Bethany mission station in South 
Africa, remarked that ' ' she also desired to be received by baptism 
into the covenant with God. But she felt her unworthiness ; she 
appeared to herself like a little child." To this the missionary 
replied, that this was exactly the state of heart which the lyord 
required, for he had said, Except ye be converted and become as little 
children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Matt, xviii. 3. 

A poor, miserable woman, who had been a servant in Luther's 
house at Wittenberg, had sold herself, soul, body and to the devil. 
When she had fallen into great distress on this account, Luther visited 
her and asked, why she was so distressed, ' ' 6 dear sir, ' ' said she, 
*' why should I not be distressed ? I have turned away from God, and 
given myself over to the devil. " "Be comforted, ' ' said Luther, ' ' This 
is comparatively a trifling sin. Have you not committed a greater 
sin?" She replied, " O dear Doctor, what greater sin could I have 
committed ? " " That would be the greatest sin," replied Luther, " if 
you would continue in this folly, and yield yourself to despair. Listen 
to this, dear Blsa, Can you give away Mr. Froeshlins money, or book, 
or his coat ? " * ' No, ' ' said she, ' ' they are not mine. " " Well, then, ' ' 
replied Luther, ' ' you can not give yourself away, for you are not your 
own. You have not redeemed yourself ; the Lord Jesus has redeemed 
you. You are bapHzed in his name. You belong to him. You have 
no authority over yourself. Break off yonr contract with the devil, 
and say to him. Hence thou lying spirit, go to my Lord Christ. If you 
want anything, ask him for it ; he will pour the fire of hell upon your 
head!" 

Lewis IX., king of France, was baptized in the village of Poisy, 
and crowned at St. Dennis. He usually signed himself Lewis of 
Poisy. For, said he, at St. Dennis I received an earthly crown, but at 
Poisy I received a heavenly crown. In reference to his baptism he 
used to say, ** Three handfulls of water are worth more to me than a 
royal crown ! " 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 2/1 

The sainted jailer, Erdle, of Nurnberg, often accompanied his 
godfather, in his childhood, to church. At his entrance into the 
church, the pious man usually prayed somewhat audibly for his little 
Godchild by name, which had a very wholesome, spiritual eflfect upon 
him. 

A baptized Christian child is like the child of a king, when in its 
cradle ; it is the heir of a crown, although not conscious thereof. 
Here are a few words from the writings of Dr. Luther : 

1. What is the Old Adam ? It is that nature with which we were 
bom. The Old Adam is angry, hateful, envious, unchaste, stingy, 
lazy, proud, unfaithful, beset with all kinds of vice, and has by nature 
nothing good about him. Now when we come into the kingdom of 
Christ, all these things shall daily decrease, we shall in the course 
of our lives, become more mild and patient and meek, and break oflf 
more and more from our unbelief, stinginess, hatred and envy. This 
is the proper use of Baptism among Christians, and which is signified by 
water Baptism. Where this is not the case, but the reins are left to 
the Old Adam, that he may grow still stronger, this is not making a 
proper use of, but is in opposition to Baptism. 

2. Unfortunately many conduct themselves, as if they might 
always continue in their old ways {alien Haut), live according to their 
lusts, and thus disgrace their holy Baptism ; as though they had been 
called into the kingdom of grace, that they might have the liberty to 
do what they pleased, trusting, that God would be gracious to them, 
and thus comfort themselves, "I am an imperfect man; God will 
graciously excuse and forgive me. " No, not in this way, dear brother. 
I have not taught you that Baptism shall give you freedom to sin ; but 
the contrary. Your sins are remitted and you have received the grace 
of God, because 3^ou now lead a different life, and have forsaken your 
sins. It is not consistent to be baptized and live in sin. 

DR. SCHMUCKKR'S hints ON CATKCHISATION. 

The following extract from Dr. Schmucker's Catechism may be 
helpful to the pastors in the instruction of their classes : 

In a course of instruction for confirmation, an excellent method 
is the following : 

I. The pastor may divide the entire series of questions into as 
many parts as he expects to hold meetings, and assign one portion for 
each meeting. The pupils should not attempt to memorize the 
answers verbatim, but should attentively read and prayerfully reflect 
on them, and when questioned, answei in their own words, as in Bible 
lessons. 



2^2 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

2. The pastor should make the same portion of the catechism the 
subject of premeditation for the day. He should first address one 
question by name to each of those pupils whom he deems best quali- 
fied to answer, in order to encourage the others, and on subsequent 
days, pass questions regularly along to the pupils, as they may be seated. 
He may expla,in the subject of each question after the answer is recited, 
or may reserve his explanations until all the questions have been 
answered by the pupils ; and then give them in the form of a para- 
phrase of the whole lesson, or in a separate lecture. 

3. In either case, he should himself repeat aloud the answer to 
each question as he comments on it, in doing which he will find addi- 
tional materials for remark by casting his eyes on the connected 
Scripture proofs. 

4. The Introduction might be taken up last, if sufficient time 
remains, after the great subjects of doctrine, experience, and duty 
have been fully discussed, and the pupil led to the Savior. 

5. After the pupil has repeated an answer, especially when tim- 
idly done and in a low voice, or not correctly, the minister also should 
repeat it aloud, so that all can hear ; for in order that all may be ben- 
efited, all must hear. And even when he reserves his principal 
remarks to the close of the entire exercise, he ought, as he repeats 
each answer, to add a few words of confirmation or explanation. 

6. The utmost simplicity of matter and manner should be aimed 
at, that the timid may not be embarrassed, and that all may feel at 
ease. Ministers should also seek to gain the affection and confidence 
of their children ; should notice them when they meet them elsewhere ; 
cultivate a personal acquaintance with them in the week, and take 
delight in teaching them 

7. In the elucidation of the answers, the minister should study 
variety ; and for this purpose cast his eye on the proof-texts before 
him, which were selected with the utmost care, and will furnish new 
and abundant materials for his remarks. By this course the congre- 
gation will become well indoctrinated^ be proof against the extrava- 
gances and errors of the age, and be an active, devoted Church of 
Christ. Such an early religious training will, moreover, by the divine 
blessing, save the rising generation from the corruptions of the world, 
make them affectionate, obedient, and faithful children, and prepare 
them for being zealous and active disciples of the Lord. 

S. S. SCHMUCKKR. 
Gettysburg, October 2,1, 1871. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 2/3 

CONFIRMATION. 

J22. What is Confirmation ? 

Negatively : Confirmation is not a sacrament, divinely 
instituted ; 

Positively : \. It is a solemn and impressive ceremony 
established by the church, in which those who profess Christ 
are publicly received into the visible church of Christ. 

2. It is the ceremony by which persons, who were 
baptized in their infancy and have been instructed in the 
doctrines cf our holy religion, publicly renew and confirm 
their Baptismal Covenant. 

j^j. Of how many parts does Confirmation consist ? 

, Confirmation consists of three parts : 
T. Public confession of the Christian faith ; 

2. A solemn vow to lead a Christian life ; and 

3. The consecration by prayer and the laying on of 
hands by the minister. 

j-?^. What qualifications should be required of those 
who wish to be confirmed ? 

Those who wish to be confirmed should, 

1. Possess a correct knowledge of the fundamental 
doctrines and the duties of the Christian religion ; 

2. They should exhibit credible evidence that they 
have been taught by the Holy Spirit to see, deplore and 
renounce their sins, and 

3. Exercise a living faith in Jesus Christ, and conse- 
crate themselves unconditionally and forever to the service 
and glory of God. 

J2^. What are some of the particular duties of those 
who are confirmed ? 

It should be the special effort of those who are con- 
firmed. 



2/4 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

1. To be faithful to the covenant engagements into 
which they have entered with God and his people; 

2. To adorn their Christian profession by a well 
ordered walk and conversation ; 

3. With this view they should be particularly atten- 
tive, to the public ordinances of God's house, such as 
public worship, social prayermeetings, Sunday-schools, con- 
tributions to missionary purposes, as well as the support of 
the gospel at home; private and family worship, and take 
an active part in the benevolent efforts and all other duties 
of the church. 

E^XPIvANATORY NOTES. 

Scriptural Examples. Analogies of confirmation, Jesus and the 
twelve, John vi. 66-71 ; Those who were baptized at Samaria, Acts 
viii. 14-17 ; Those who were baptized at Ephesus, Acts xix. 6 ; The 
CoUossians, Col. iii. 1-19 ; The Hebrews, Heb. v. 12-14. 

Confirmation is a rite, whereby a person, arrived at the age of dis- 
cretion, undertakes the performance of every part of the baptismal 
covenant made for him by his sponsors. 

In the ancient church it was done immediately after baptism, if 
the bishop happened to be present at the solemnity. Throughout the 
Bast it still accompanies baptism, but the Romanists make it a dis- 
tinct, independent sacrament. Seven years is the stated time for con- 
firmation ; however, they are sometimes confirmed after that age. In 
the church of England the age of the persons to be confirmed is not 
fixed. — Howe^s Episcopacy. 

Public confirmation was introduced in the Lutheran church in the 
year 1737. 

As the rite of confirmation was not divinely instituted, but is only 
a ceremony of the church, it is not essential to salvation. Yet it is a 
sacred, important and impressive transaction, and may be the means 
of great blessing to the participants. 

Confirmation may be embraced in two principal things : 
I. Profession of religion on the part of the persons confirmed ; 
II. The consecration on the part of the minister. 
I. The Profession. Children become members of the Christian 
chruch by baptism. Confirmation is not, therefore, the 
entrance into the Christian church, as some suppose. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 2/5 

The sponsors have promised to see that the child shall be trained 
up in the Christian religion, and be taught to believe in the 
Triune God, and lead a holy life. 

But the Christian congregation now also wishes to hear from 
the mouth of the child itself, its confession of faith, after it 
has been taught in all things which Christ commanded. The 
catechumen confirms, ratifies everything that has been done 
in his name in holy baptism. 

The vow of the catechumen to live and die in faith and holiness 
is very solemn. It is expressed 

1. With the mouth. To the question of the minister, the divinely 

appointed servant of the church, he answers. Yes ; 

2. With the hand. The minister then says, Give me thy right 

hand, in token, that thou wilt faithfully keep thy vow. 
The giving of the right hand is a token of faithfulness and 
truth in fulfilling a promise or a vow. 

3. In the presence of the all-seeing God. He hears your vow. 

4. In the presence of the congregation. The congregation 

accepts your profession and vow, and regards you now as a 

communicant member. 
II. The Consecration consists of the laying of the hands of the 
minister on the head of the catechumen, and his prayer. 
The imposition of hands is a symbol of the communication of 
spiritual gifts. 
The preparation for confiirmation is a sacred and solemn time. 
It should be devoted to prayer, that the Holy Ghost might 
open the heart, to the love and service of Christ ; for grace 
and strength to keep the vow made on the day of confirma- 
tion ; there should be much self-examination and reflection 
on the instructions that have been received ; there should be 
diligent study of the holy Scriptures, and avoidance of all dis- 
tracting company and worldly amusements. 

ANECDOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

On one occasion, when the sainted pastor Gonthier, had assem- 
l^led his catechumens in the church on the occasion of their first com- 
munion, he saw in the midst of them an old soldier, who took a deep 
interest in the whole proceeding. Gonthier preached a sermon on the 
words, " For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy 
husband, or how knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy 
wife ? " I Cor. vii. 16. The text and the sermon made such a deep 
impression on the heart of the soldier's w4fe, that she continued from 



2/6 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

time to time to urge her husband to make a visit to the minister. He 
consented to do so, and came to the pastor, but could give him no 
reason for his visit, but the desire of his wife, whom he sincerely loved. 
She spoke every day, especially since that sermon, about things to 
him, of which he had never heard in his life and in which he took no 
interest, and she thought if he would only come once to the minister, 
he would take an interest in these things. Gonthier received him 
very kindly, and secured his confidence in his first conversation with 
him, to get him to promise to come again. In the second conversa- 
tion the man had progressed so far as to ask for instruction in religion, 
and in the third conversation he declared that in future he would not 
enter secretly, as he had done, by the back door into the parsonage. At 
last he requested, as he did not now wish needlessly to interfere with the 
pastor's time, that he might take part with the catechumens in the 
religious instruction, and finally was admitted with them to the com- 
munion table. 

Dr. A. F. Bushing, school-director in Berlin, was, after proper 
instruction by a worthy minister, confirmed in the spring of the year 
1741, and died in the year 1793. He wrote on the occasion of his con- 
firmation, for himself and his friend Dilthey, a covenant with God. 
Both friends, although far separated from each other, renewed this 
covenant every year on the anniversary of their confirmation, for the 
strengthening of their faith and love. 

Beautiful is the way in which Tobias Kiesling, of Nurnberp^, pre- 
pared his son, the younger Tobias, for his first communion. A few 
days before the confirmation he went with him to the minister and 
formally confided him to the spiritual supervision as his pastor. On the 
day, when the preparatory services were held, he took his son into his 
closet and with tears and prayer commended him to the grace and 
mercy of Christ. 

The departure of one of the children from the homestead, was 
always a very affecting time in the family of the sainted pastor 
Rauschenbusch, of Elberfeld. To the affectionate admonition^ 
addressed to the departing son or daughter, during the last meal, was 
added a fervent prayer. The departing one could not help but feel, 
that the father had not yet given up his guiding influence, but now 
pled for him by his intercessory prayer, at the throne of grace. 



ILLUSTRATED CAIECHISM. 27/ 



PART V. 

THE SACRAMENT OF THE ALTAR OR THE 

LORD'S SUPPER. 

J 26. What is the Sacrament of the Altar ? 

It is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
under the bread and wine, given to us Christians to eat and 
drink, as it was instituted by Christ himself. 

^2y. For what purpose was the Sacrament of the Lord's 
Supper instituted? 

The Lord's Supper was instituted, 

1. For the commemoration of the death of Christ; 

2. For the renewal of our Baptismal Covenant, and 

3. For the union of believers with Christ and among 
themselves. 

I Corinthians xi. 23, 24. The Lord Jesus, the^aw<? night in which 
he was betrayed took bread : And when he had given thanks, he 
brake it, and said, Take, eat : this is my body, which is broken for you: 

I Corinthians xi. 24. This do in remembrance of me. 

I Corinthians xi. 26. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink 
this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. 

Matthew xxvi. 27. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and 
gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it ; 

Matthew xxvi. 28. For this is my blood of the new testament, 
which is shed for many for the remission of sins. 

I Corinthians x. 16. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not 
the communion of the blood of Christ ? The bread which we break, 
is it not the communion of the body of Christ ? 

I Corinthians x, 17. For we being many are one bread, and one 
body : for we are all partakers of that one bread. 

J28. By what names is the Sacrament of the Lord's 
Supper called? 



2J% ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

It is called by the following names : 

I. The Lord's Supper, (i Cor. x. 21) because it was 
instituted by Christ at night ; 

2. The Lord's Table, (i Cor. xi. 20) because it was first 
partaken of by the disciples, while reclining around a table, 
and this custom was doubtless followed by the early Chris- 
tians ; 

3. The Communion, (i Cor. x. 16, 17) because it is a 

celebration of the union of believers with Christ and among 
themselves ; 

4. The Eucharist, or giving of thanks, (Matt. xxvi. 
30) because it is customary to sing hymns of thanksgiving 
during the celebration of the Lord's Supper, which is a 
*' commemoration of all the blessings of God, that culminate 
in redemption by the blood of Christ ; " 

5. It is also called the Sacrament of the Altar ^ (Heb. 
xiii. 10) "as a celebration of the atoning sacrifice of Christ." 

J2g. Which are the words of the institution of the 
Lord's Supper? 

The holy Evangelists, Matthew, Mark and Luke, to- 
gether with St. Paul, write thus : 

" Our Lord Jesus Christ, the same night in which he 
was betrayed, took bread ; and when he had given thanks, 
he brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said. Take, eat; 
this is my body which is given for you : this do in remem- 
brance of me." 

'* After the same manner also he took the cup, when he 

had supped, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying. 
Drink ye all of it : this cup is the new testament in my 
blood, which is shed for you, for the remission of sins : this 
do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me." 

jjo. What is meant by the consecration of the elements? 

By the consecration of the elements is meant the set- 
ting apart, or devoting a sufificient quantity of bread and 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 2/9 

wine for use in the Holy Sacrament by prayer and the 
repetition of the words of the institution. 

jji. Who should consecrate and administer the elements 
in the Holy Communion ? 

Only properly appointed ministers of the Gospel should 
consecrate and administer the elements in the Holy Com- 
munion. 

I Corinthians ix. 13 They which minister about holy things. 
I Corinthians xiv. 40. Let all things be done decently and in 
order. 

j^2. Which are the external elements used in the Lord's 
Supper ? 

The external elements are bread and wine. The bread 
may be either leavened or unleavened, and the wine should 
be the uncorrupted, unadulterated " fruit of the vine." 

Matthew xxvi. 29. But I say unto you, I will not drink hence- 
forth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with 
you in my Father's kingdom, 

333' Who should be admitted to the Lords Supper ? 

All Christians who have been baptized and have united 
with the church by a profession of faith, and whose life cor- 
responds with their profession. 

jj^. What should communicants do before partaking of 
the Lord's Supper? 

Before partaking of the Lord's Supper communicants 
should examine themselves, confess their sins, pray for for- 
giveness, and resolve by the help of God to live a holier life. 

I Corinthians xi. 28. But let a man examine himself, and so let 
him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. 

335' Who commune worthily ? 

Those commune worthily, who have repented of their 
sins, humbly trust in Christ, and truly believe these words, 
"Given and shed for the remission of sins." 

336, Which is the chief thing in the Lord's Supper? 

Besides the bodily eating and drinking the chief thing 
in the Sacrament is faith in these words, " Given and shed 



280 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

for you for the remission of sins." For where there is re- 
mission of sin, there is also life and salvation. 

337' ^ho is unprepared and unworthy to come to the 
Lord's Supper? 

He who lives in known and voluntary sin, and has no 
true faith, or doubts in his mind the truth of Christ's words; 
for the words, " Given and shed for you," require truly be- 
lieving hearts. 

Romans xiv. 23. And lie that doubteth is damned if he eat, be- 
cause he eateth not of faith : for whatsoever is not of faith is sin. 

338. What threatning is pronounced against those who 
commune unworthily ? 

Those who live in known and voluntary sin, and do 
not recognize the body and blood of Christ in the Sacra- 
ment, but partake of it as if it were an ordinary meal, eat 
and drink condenmation to themselves. ♦ 

I Corinthians xi. 27, Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, 
and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the 
body and blood of the Lord. 

I Corinthians xi. 29. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, 
eateth and drinketh damnation to himself. 

33 g. In what does our true preparation to receive the 
Lord's Supper consist? 

We become worthy participants of the Lord's Supper, 

I. Not by bodily discipline, or external preparation, such 
as fasting, bodily purifications, etc. 

Isaiah Iviii. 5. Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a 
man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and 
to spread sackcloth and ashes under him ? wilt thou call this a fast, 
and an acceptable day to the Lord ? 

Isaiah Iviii. 6. Is not this the fast that I have chosen ? to loose 
the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the 
oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke ? 

Isaiah Iviii. 7. Is it not to deal thy bred to the hungry, and that 
thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house ? when thou seest 
the naked, that thou cover him ; and that thou hide not thyself from 
thine own flesh ? 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 28 1 

1. Which are, indeed, good and commendable, when 

they are done in order to clear the mind and 
make it capable of appreciating the importance 

of our communion. 

I Corinthians xi. 28. But let a man examine himself, and so let 
him eat'of that bread, and drink of that cup. 

2. But which are not of themselves sufficient, because 

God requires the whole heart and its worthy- 
preparation by purification from sin. 

Matthew vi. 24. No man can serve two masters : for either he 
will hate the one, and love the other ; or else he will hold to the one, and 
dispise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. 

Isaiah i. 16. Wash you, make you clean ; put away the evil of 
your doings from before mine eyes ; cease to do evil. 

II. But it consists in awakening and promoting a living 

faith, which is done, when we examine ourselves 

by asking. How do I stand with God ? In his grace 

and service? or in his displeasure? 

j^o. By what standard shoidd we examine onrselves ? 

We should examine ourselves 

1. By the law which requires perfect obedience, and 
threatens inevitable punishment on its transgressors ; 

Galatians iii. 10. For as many as are of the works of the law are 
under the curse : for it is written. Cursed is every one that contin- 
ueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do 
them. 

2. By the gospel which invites to the exercise of 
faith, and offers and grants grace. 

Romans iii. 24. Being justified freely by his grace through the 
redemption that is in Christ Jesus : 

Romans iii. 25, Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation 
through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remis- 
sion of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God. 

Romans i. 16. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ : for 
it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that belie veth : to 
the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 

EXPLANATORY NOTES. 

Definitions of the Lord's Supper: 

Lutheran : It is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
under the bread and wine, given unto us Christians to eat and drink, 
as it was instituted by Christ himself. 



282 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

Ger, Rtforni d . A communion of the body and blood of Christy 
whereby the souls of believers are nourished, unto everlasting life. 

PtesbyUrian or Ca<vinistic : The Lord's Supper is a sacrament, 
wherein, by giving and receiving bread and wine, according to Christ's 
appointment, his death is shown forth ; and the worthy receivers are, 
not after a corporal or carnal manner, but by faith, made partakers of 
his body and blood, with all his merits, to their spiritual benefit and 
growth in grace. 

Mot avian .• i. It is a memorial of the sacrifice of Christ, whereby 
we commemorate his sufferings and death on. our behalf; 

2. It is a communion of the body and blood of Christ, whereby 
we are assured of the forgiveness of sins, and are nourished unto eter- 
nal life ; 

3. It is a communion of believers with each other, as members 
of the church, which is the body of Christ. 

Protestant Episcopal : i. The outward part or sign of the Lord's 
Supper are bread and wine, which the Lord hath commanded to be 
received ; 

2 The inward part, or thing signified : The body and blood of 
Christ, which are spiritually taken and received by the faithful in the 
Lord's Supper. 

Po7niih ••By the consecration of the bread and wine, a conversion, 
is made of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the 
body of Christ our Lord, and of the whole substance of the wine into 
the substance of his blood ; which conversion is, by the Holy Catholic 
Church, suitably and properly called Transubstantiation. 

— Council of Trent. 

The Lutheran church maintains that the Savior fulfills his prom- 
ise and is actually present, especially present, at the holy supper, in 
a manner incomprehensible to us, and not defined in Scripture. And 
why should it be thought a thing impossible, that he, who fills immen- 
sity with his presence, vshould be there where his disciples meet to 
celebrate his dying love ? — Dr. S. S Schmucker. 

The passage, John vi. 63, furnishes the key to the interpretation of 
the preceding section, verses 51-58, and the words of Christ generally, 
which are spirit and life, and should be understood accordingly. It 
excludes all those theories on the Lord's Supper which either carnal- 
ize or materialize it, or which resolve it into a mere symbol or figure, 
and empty it of its profound and spiritual mystery. — Schaff. 

The account of the institution of the Lord's Supper occurs four 
times in the New Testament, which we here give in parallel columns^: 



Matt.xxvi.26-28. 
And as they 
were eating, Je;- 
SUS took bread, 
and blessed it, 
and brake «7, 
and gave it to 
the disciples, 
and said. Take, 
eat ; this is My 
Body. 



And He took 
the cup, and 
gave thanks, 
and gave it to 
them, saying. 
Drink ye all of 

it; 

For this is My 
blood of the New 
Testament, 
which i s shed 
for many for the 
remission of 
sins. 



Mark xiv. 22-24. 
And as they 
did eat, JKSUS 
took bread, and 
blessed, and 
brake it, and 
gave to them, 
and •said, Take, 
eat : this is My 
Body. 



And He took 
the cup, and 
when He had 
given thanks. 
He gave it to 
them : and they 
all drank of it. 

And He said 
unto them. This 
is My blood of 
the New Testa- 
ment, which is 
shed for many. 



Ivukexxii.19,20. 

And He took 
bread, and gave 
thanks, and 
brake it, and 
gave unto them, 
saying, This is 
My Body, which 
is given for you: 
this do in re- 
membrance o f 
Me. 



Also the cup 
after supper say- 
ing. This cup is 
the New Testa- 
m e nt in My 
blood, which is 
shed for you. 



Add these following, and we have all the 
direct references to the Eucharist to be found in 
the New Testament : 

The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not 
the Communion of the blood of Christ ? The 
bread which we break, is it not the Communion 
of the body of Christ? (i Cor. x. 16.) 

Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us ; 
therefore let us keep the feast, (i Cor. v. 7.) 

We have an altar, whereof they have no right 
to eat which serve the tabernacle. (Heb xiii. 10.) 



I Cor. xi. 23-29. 

The Lord Je- 
sus the same 
night in which 
He was betrayed 
took bread : 

And when He 
had given 
thanks, He 
brake it, and 
said. Take, eat : 
this is My Body, 
which is broken 
for you : this do 
in remembrance 
of Me. 

After the same 
manner also He 
took the cup, 
when He had 
supped, saying. 
This cup is the 
New Testament 
i n My blood : 
this do ye, as oft 
as ye drink it, 
in remembrance 
of Me 

For as oft as 
ye eat this bread, 
and drink this 
cup, ye do shew 
the Lord's 
death till He 
come. 

Wherefore 
whosoever shall 
eat this bread, 
and drink this 
cup unworthily, 
shall be guilty 
of the body and 
blood of the 
Lord 

For he that 
eateth and 
drinketh unwor- 
thily, eateth and 
drinketh dam- 
nation ( or rather 
condemnat ion) 
to himself, not 
discerning the 
Lord's body. 



284 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

The celebration of the Lord's Supper has been continued in the 
Christian church. from the night of its institution to the present time, 
and will continue to be celebrated till the end of the world. In the 
early ages of the church it was celebrated in its beautiful simplicity- 
just as Christ had instituted it. Justin Martyr's account, describing it 
to the emperor, Antoninus Pius, the earliest we have, shows how it 
was administered about the year of our Lord, 150. He says, ' ' On the 
day called Sunday they meet together, and instruction in Scripture is 
given and prayer offered Then, when our prayer is ended, bread and 
wine and water are brought, and the president in like manner offers 
prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people 
. assent, saying. Amen ; and there is a distribution to each, and a par- 
ticipation of that, over which thanks have been given, and to those who 
are absent a portion is sent by the deacons. This food is called among 
us Eucharistia." (Apol. Book I, Ixvii.) 

There has been much controversy in the Christian church in 
regard to the nature of Christ's presence in the Lord's Supper. There 
are three principal views taught by the Romanists, Calvinists and 
Lutherans : 

T. The Romish church teaches that the bread and the wine in 
the Sacrament are instantly changed, when the priest speaks the 
words of the institution with the sign of the cross, into the literal body 
and blood of Christ. Consequently there are no more bread and wine 
present, but only their outward appearance. This is called Transub- 
stantiation. The Romish church also teaches that the priest alone 
shall receive the sacrament in both kinds, bread and wine, but the 
laity, the people, shall receive only the bread, namely, the unleavened 
wafer, or host. The reason given is, that the blood of the Lord is 
already in the body or host. In accordance with this the Romanists 
worship the host, and believe that this is the living body of Christ, 
and will remain such, even if no one should partake of it, but should 
remain in the monstrance, that is, the casket or box in which it is 
locked up. They therefore regard the sacrament of the Lord's Sup- 
per as an unbloody repetition of the sacrificial death of Christ, in 
direct contradiction to the Scriptures, Heb. vii. 2^] ; x. 10. All these 
false doctrines are concentrated in the Romish mass. The priest con- 
secrates the bread and changes it into the flesh of Christ. By this 
means he professes to offer in an unbloody manner again and again, 
a sacrifice to God, (Sacrifice of the mass ) The wafer (host) kept in 
the pix (box) is carried about in the streets with great solemnity and 
is worshipped. All true Protestants from the reformers down to the 
present time reject and abhor these Romish doctrines of the Lord's 
Supper. • 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 285 

2. The Reformed churches teach that the bread and wine in the 
Lord's Supper are only signs and emblems of the body and blood of 
Christ, which are not present with the bread and wine, but are in 
heaven. Only believers are fed with the heavenly gifts of grace ; 
the others receive only earthly bread and common wine. 

3. The Lutheran church teaches, that f«, with, or under the 
bread and wine, Christ imparts to us his body and blood, and that 
unbelievers, as well as believers receive the sacrament ; the former to 
their condemnation, the latter to their edification. Bread and wine 
are not changed, but are only the bearers or conveyers of the body and 
blood. The bread and wine left over after the communion are no 
longer bearers or conveyers of the body and blood, but remain simply 
bread and wine ; for to the full reality of the sacrament belongs also 
the reception thereof. 

The Lutheran doctrine of the Lord's Supper is very frequently 
misunderstood or misrepresented. Many are mislead by the little 
words, in, Con and sub, in, with, or under), and think it means that 
the body and blood of Christ are so combined with the bread and 
wine, as to become one substance with them. This is called Consub- 
stantiation. But this is not taught, as the following note from Dr. 
Mosheim, the Lutheran historian, shows : 

"What the nature of this presence is, we know not. The thing 
itself we know ; but the mode of its truth is a mystery which we can- 
not comprehend. We deny that Christ is present and received in a 
physical or material manner. But should any one ask. How is he 
present ? our answer is, We know not. We commonly call his pres- 
ence in this holy ordinance, a ' sacrainental presence. ' This might 
seem to be an attempt to define the mode of his presence ; but by this 
word we mean nothing more than that we are ignorant of the mode. — 
They therefore err who say that we believe in impanation, or that 
Christ is in the bread and wine. Nor are those correct who charge us 
with believing in subpanation, that is, that Christ is under the form of 
bread and wine. And equally groundless is the charge of consubstan- 
tiation, or the belief that the body and blood of Christ are changed 
into one substance with the bread and wdne." 

THK NATURK AND DESIGN OF THE I^ORD'S SUPPER. 

I. Its author is Christ, whom we regard 

1. As an Almighty Savior, who can and will perform what he 

has promised. Matt, xxviii. 18 ; i Peter iii. 22. 

2. As a dying Savior, wherefore his words are to be regarded as 

a testament, which dare not to be changed, nor interpreted 
differently from what they were spoken by him. Heb. ix. 
16, 17 ; Gal. iii. 15 ; Rev. xxii. 18, 19. 



286 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

II. The Lord's Supper was instituted in the night in which he was 
betrayed and given over to his sufferings and death, whereby 
the following things are to be noted : 

1. Some things were done, which were not commanded to be 

continued ; namely, Christ ate the Passover in the same 
night as he sat or reclined at the table with his disciples, 
previous to the Lord's Supper ; brake the unleavened bread, 
etc. Exodus xii. i8, 19, 34. 

2. Some things were positively commanded ; for the command 

is, "Take, eat," etc. "This do in remembrance of me,"' 
where we note that, 

a. The bread is to be eaten, and not to be locked up in a box, 
to be worshiped and carried about the streets ; he does 
not say, this is no longer bread, or is changed into my 
literal flesh and blood, (Transubstantiation), but it is still 
called bread, ' ' As oft as ye eat of this bread. ' ' 

d. With the cup he commands positively, that all should drink 
of it ; therefore it was not intended for the priests alone, 
but also for the laymen, none of whom should be excluded 
from it. 

c. That we should receive it with the confident belief and 
assurance, that Christ's body was broken and his blood 
was shed for us ; that is, he died in our stead, for our 
reconciliation with God, and our salvation. Heb. ix. 12. 
Christ .calls the cup "The New Testament," (Luke xxii. 
20 ) ; his ' ' blood of the New Testament, ' ' ( Matt. xxvi. 28, ) 
and by this puts it in the place of the wine, that was 
drank at the passover ; also in place of the blood of the 
Passover lamb, that was sprinkled on the door posts of 
their dwellings in Egypt, and on the altar in the temple 
at Jerusalem. Exodus xii. 7 ; 2 Chron. xxx. 16. 
III. The design of the Lord's Supper : 

1. We partake of the Lord's Supper in remembrance of our Sav- 

ior. I Cor. xi. 24. 

2. To show the Lord's death till he come again, i Cor, xi. 26. 

3. To appropriate by faith the benefits of his death for the forgive- 

ness of our sins. Matt. xxvi. 28. 
JVote : Christ ordained bread and wine to be used in the Lord's 
Supper, not only because they are the most natural strengthening 
means, (Psalm civ. 15), and can be everywhere obtained ; but also 
represent the intimate union with Christ and believers among them- 
selves ; namely, the bread is composed of many grains, and the wine 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 28/ 

is composed of many grapes, wHich are brought together and united 
into one bread and one wine ; also, nothing becomes so intimately- 
united with us as our food and drink. 

THE PREPARATION FOR THE WORTHY RECEPTION OF THE I^ORD'S 

SUPPER CONSISTS 

I. Not in external or bodily discipline, such as fastings, purifica- 
tions, etc, Isaiah Iviii. 5-7. 

1. Which are, indeed, good and commendable, when done iri 

order that the mind may be clear and capable of appreciat- 
ing the importance of this ordinance, i Cor. xi. 28 ; 

2. But are not sufficient, because God requires the whole heart 

and its proper preparation by purification from sin, Ma:tt. 
vi. 24 ; Isaiah i. 16 ; Joshua vii. 13. 
II. But it consists in awakening and promoting a living faith, which 
is done, when one examines himself ; that is, inquires and asks, 
How do I stand with God ? in his grace and service ? or in his 
displeasure ? etc. This examination should be according to the 
law, as well as according to the gospel. 

1. According to the law, which requires perfect obedience, and 

threatens inevitable punishment on its transgressors. Gal. 
iii. 10. 

a. We should realize the number and enormity of our sins 

t Psalm xxxviii. 5-9) with godly sorrow (2 Cor. vii. 10), in 
which we must especially feel, that we have offended such 
a gracious God, who has done us so much good, and that we 
justly deser\^e the punishment for our sins. Psalm 1. 21. 
Worldly sorrow is not sufficient ; yea, injurious, because 
it concerns itself only with worldly loss, or the disgrace, 
which is a natural consequence of sin. Prov. v. 22 ; Prov. 
xxii. 8 ; Jeremiah xxxi. 19. 

b. We must realize our inability to help ourselves, (Rom. vii. 

1-24,) and permit ourselves to be driven to Christ. Gal. 
iii. 24 

2. According to the gospel, which invites to the exercise of faith, 

and offers and grants grace ; (Rom. iii; 24, 25 ; Rom. i. 16.) 

a. Namely, The gospel awakens an inward desire in us to ac- 

cept by faith the merits of Christ. Isaiah xlv. 22-24 J 
Isaiah liii. 4, 5 ; Rom. viii; 38, 39; 

b. The gospel encourages us, with childlike confidence to seek 

our refuge in Christ. Heb. iv. 16. 



288 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

c. In faith on Christ, confidently to expect the grace of God. 

2 Timothy i. 12. 

d. To continue constantly therein to the end. Matt. xxiv. 13. 

Thus shall we be worthy communicants. 

AND THUS WE A'TTAIN THE GRACE OF GOD AND SAI.VATION, 

Through God as the author and originator of our salvation ; 
Through Christ as our divine Teacher and Guide ; 
Through the gospel as our assurance, (Rom. i. 16); 
Through the vSacraments, as the seals of our redemption ; 
Through faith as the hand by which we take hold of the offered 
grace in Christ. 

THE BENEFITS OF THE I^ORD'S SUPPER 

are the same as those which have been received in Baptism ; only 
those benefits are renewed, confirmed and sealed ; that is, a visible 
pledge is given ; namely, 

1. The forgiveness of sin, because Christ has shed his blood ; 
(that is, given his life) for us, and thus redeemed us from the guilt 
and punishment of our sins ; (Matt, xviii. 27 ; Eph. i. 7) and we be- 
come partakers by faith of the salvation wrought for us by Christ's suf- 
ferings and death. 

2. The spiritual life, by the awakening of a pious disposition, the 
desire and power to do that which is good is imparted, maintained and 
increased in us. This is also called "The life of my Spirit," 
(Isaiah xxxviii. 16, 17) on account of its similarity with the bodily life ; 
(because the soul governs the body) , and manifests itself, when we per- 
mit ourselves to be governed by the Spirit of God. Gal. v. 17 ; Rom. 
viii. 14. 

3. Bternal salvation (Psalm xxxii. i, 2); namely, when believers 
remain intimately united with Christ. Rom. viii. i ; i Tim. i. 19. 

THE MEANS BY WHICH WE OBTAIN THESE BENEFITS. 

1. Not by the mere outward reception with the mouth, because it 
is not designed to appease bodily hunger, but it is designed for the 
strengthening of the soul in spiritual things ; also they receive the sac- 
rament unworthily, who make no proper distinction between the sac- 
rament and an ordinary meal, i Cor. xi. 26, 29 

2. But by the necessary appropriation of the atoning death of 
Christ. This is done when we confidently, without doubting, apply 
to ourselves the words for you, and say in faith : Given and shed for 
me. 2 Cor. v. 14, 19. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 289 

ANECDOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Scriptural Examples. Types of the Lord's Supper in the Old Tes- 
tament, The Passover Lamb, Exodus xii. 3-13 ; i Cor. v. 7 ; The 
manna, Exodus xvi. 15 ; i Cor. x. 3 ; The water from the smitten rock, 
Exodus xvii. 3-6 ; i Cor. x. 4 ; The institution of the Lord's Supper, 
as recorded in the gospels and first Epistle to the Corinthians ; The 
first believers. Acts ii. 42, 46. 

George Buchholtzer received the Lord's Supper, shortly before 
his death, and expressed himself as follows : " Why should I be afraid 
of death ; Do I not have him in my heart who has conquered death ? 
Lord Jesus, I am weary of this life, certain to die, and desirous of eter- 
nal life. Receive my spirit. " 

When Luther heard that the king of Denmark had ordered a fast 
of three days for all the people in his kingdom, he said, " It is right — 
I wish this custom were again introduced. It is the external humil- 
iation, and it is well when the internal humiliation accompanies it." 

Valerius Herberger relates the following words of a pious woman 
on her deathbed : My Lord Jesus shed drops of blood in the garden of 
Gethsemane ; from these flowers have sprung up, which are called. 
Forgiveness of sins. The grace of God, Heaven and eternal life. I 
thank and praise God, that these flowers are also blooming in my 
heart. 

In the Eastern church the communicant exclaims when he receives 
the Lord's Supper, "My Savior, I will not kiss thee like Judas did, 
but I will call upon thee like the thief on the cross. Lord, remember 
me! " 

Many excuse themselves from coming to the Lord's Supper on 
account of their unworthiness. They do not consider, that the greater 
the sickness, the more need of a physician. Christ came not to call the 
righteous, but sinners to repentance. 

The Rev. John Brown of Haddington said : " I reflect on it as a 
great mercy that I was born in a family which took care of my Chris- 
tian instruction, and in which I had the privilege of God's worship 
morning and evening. About the eighth year of my age, I happened 
in a crowd to push into the church at Abernethy on a communion 
Sabbath. Before I was excluded I heard a minister speak much in 
commendation of Christ ; this in a sweet and delightful manner capti- 
vated my 3^oung affections, and has since made me think that children 
should never be kept out of church on such accasions. ' ' 



.390 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

Take care that it may not go with you as it did with that young 
man, who, while he was receiving instruction as a Catechumen, was a 
pious youth. But after his confirmation and first communion he loved 
the world, forgot his baptismal covenant and confirmation vow, and at 
last died miserably in a distant hospital. There he exclaimed, * ' Alas, 
it has gone with me as it did with Noah's raven. When it found the 
carcass it did not return to the ark. So I also satisfied myself with the 
stinking vices of the world, and forgot the church of Christ, in which 
I was born, baptized and confirmed. When all the other faithful ones 
,shall stand upon the mount of God, from whom our help comes, . then 
I shall stand without as one who has forsaken his inheritance, and 
shall be reserved unto the judgment of the great day in the bonds of 
eternal darkness. ' ' 

On account of an uproar in an ancient Christian church in Thess- 
alonica, the emperor Theodocius had, in his anger, caused many inno- 
cent persons to be slain with the guilty ones. Ambrosius refused on 
this account to permit him t© come into the church and receive the 
,sacrament, unless he would confess his sin, and repent. Theodocius 
replied, ' ' See here, has no one else made mistakes before ? • Did not 
king David also do wrong ? But Ambrosius answered, How canst 
thou excuse thyself with the example of David and other people's sins? 
David not only committed grievous sins, but he also publicly repented 
,of his crimes, which will be spoken of to the end of the world. If you 
have sinned with David, then repent also with David ! Then Theo- 
.docious began to weep publicly in the congregation. This affected the 
congregation deeply, insomuch that they all shed tears with him. 
The emperor then confessed with penitent sorrow, that in his passion 
he had done that which was not right before God, asked forgiveness, 
and was again admitted to the sacrament. 

Bread is most necessary for preserving the natural life. It is pre- 
pared by bruising, etc. , for use. It is pleasant and profitable to the 
body. The wine is also pre.ssed out of the grape before it is used. 

"Supposing," said Arphbishop Tillotson, " the doctrine of tran- 
substantiation had been delivered in Scripture in the very words in 
which it was decreed in the Council of Trent, by what clearer evidence 
.could any man prove to me that such words were in the Bible than I 
can prove to him that bread and wine after consecration are bread and 
wine still ? He could but appeal to my eyes to prove such words to be 
in the Bible ; and with the same reason and justice might I appeal to 
several of his senses to prove to him that the bread and wine after con- 
secration are bread and wine still." 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 29 1 

The doctrine of transubstantiation— that the elements of bread and 
wine are changed into the body and blood of Christ— is the very heart 
and marrow of the Romish system. It is repugnant to the senses, to 
reason, and to Scripture. Yet it is taught by the church of Rome, and 
made the basis of many deadly errors and corrupt practices. It is 
pretended that it is a sacrifice for the sins of the living and the dead ; 
and that Christ is corporeally received by the living. It leads to the 
adoration of the elements. It dishonors the perfect work of Christ, 
and leads people to build their hopes upon a false foundation. It is 
made an article of merchandise, by which so many masses or celebra- 
tions .of the sacrament are made for the dead.- Steel. 

" Here, O my Lord, I see thee face to face ; 

Here would I touch and handle things unseen ; 
Here grasp with firmer hand the eternal grace. 
And all my weariness upon thee lean. 

* * Here would I feed upon the bread of God ; 

Here drink with thee the royal wine of heaven ; 
Here would I lay aside each earthly load ; 
Here taste afresh the calm of sin forgiven. 

' ' This is the hour of banquet and of song ; 
This is the heavenly table spread for me ; 
Here let me feast, and, feasting, still prolong 
The brief, bright hour of fellowship with thee. ' ' 

— H. Bonar, 

Philip Henry was accustomed to advise people to put to them- 
selves, in self-examination, these three questions — "What am I ? What 
have I done ? What do I want ? 

When William IV. was Duke of Clarence, he was on one occasion 
on^the bench at the examination of men for military service. Having 
put the questions, he signed the papers. A surgeon who was present 
renfarked how well His Royal Highness wrote. The Duke said, * ' The 
fact is, when I served as midshipman — and you must know I served 
my regular time — I was obliged to keep a log-book ; and my captain 
had a particular aversion to bad writing. I then acquired a habit 
which has been of the greatest consequence to me through life ; that 
is, of recording the occurrences of the day, and by so doing submit- 
ting my actions to the scrutiny of self-examination. This habit is a 
^ood one ; I have tried and proved it. ' ' 

* ' Know thyself, ' ' was the great counsel of a heathen sage. 



292 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

"To-morrow," said Dr. James Hamilton in his youth, "the sac- 
rament of the Lord's Supper is to be dispensed here. Oh, for the 
wedding garment ! . . lyord, grant that in encompassing thy table my 
faith may be strong, my love to thee ardent, my sorrow and humilia- 
tion for sin greater than they have ever been heretofore. Open the win- 
dows of heaven and pour out a blessing, till there be not room enough 
to receive. I have renewed my covenant with thee. Enable me to 
remember and keep it. May it be an everlasting covenant, ordered in 
all things and sure, and never to be forgotten." 

While the American army, under the command of Washington, 
lay encamped in the environs of Morristown, New Jersey, the service 
of the communion was to be administered in the Presbyterian church 
of that village. In the previous week the general visited the house of 
the Rev. Dr. Jones, then pastor of that church, and thus accosted him: 
" Doctor, I understand that the Lord's Supper is to be celebrated with 
you next Sunday. I would learn if it accords with the canons of your 
church to admit communicants of another denomination ? ' ' The doc- 
tor replied, ' ' Most certainly. Ours is not the Presbyterian table. Gen- 
eral, but the Lord's table ; and we hence give the Lord's invitation to 
all his followers, of whatever name." The general replied, "I am 
glad of it ; that is as it ought to be. But as I was not quite sure of the 
fact, I thought I would ascertain it from yourself, as I propose to join 
with you on that occasion. Though a member of the church of Eng- 
land, I have no exclusive partialities." The general was found seated 
with the communicants next Sabbath. 

* ' I have observed that children when they first put on new shoes 
are very careful to keep them clean. Scarce will they set their feet 
upon the ground, for fear to spoil the souls of their shoes. Yea, rather, 
they will wipe the leather clean with their coats ; and yet, perchance, 
the next day they will trample with the same shoes in the mire up to 
the ankles. Alas ! children's play is our earnest. On that day 
whereon we receive the sacrament we are often over-precise, but are 
not so careful the next, and too often (what shall I say ?) go on in sin 
up to the ankles ; yea, our sins go over our heads." — T. Fuller. 

A notorious drunkard and swearer once coming to partake of the 
Lord's Supper from the hands of Mr. Higginson, the good man warned 
him to withdraw. On which the wretch went away, venting his 
resentment, but filled with horrors of conscience ; under which con- 
tinuing a few days, he at length cried out, " He was damned, he was 
a dog, and was going to the dogs forever. ' ' And in this miserable 
condition he died. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 293 

' ' There are many false pretenders to religion, ' ' says Boston, ' ' from 
off whose faces Christ will draw the mask." See Matt. vii. 22, 23; 
Luke xiii. 25-27. 

" O feed me daily on the living bread. 

Refresh me hourly with the living wine ; 
O satisfy ray famished soul with food, 
And quench my thirst with fruit of the eternal vine. 

' ' Thy flesh is meat indeed, my God and Lord ; 
Thy blood is drink indeed for evermore ; 
On thee alone I feed, of thee I drink, 
That into this sick soul the heavenly health may pour. ' ' 

— H. Bonar. 

'* Do you believe in transubstantiation ? " said a protestant to a 
papist. ' ' Yes, I do, ' ' was the reply. ' ' Why, ' ' said the other, ' ' the 
thing is impossible. " " And I, ' ' said the papist, ' ' believe it because it 
is impossible ! " 

In a speech in the house of Lords, in 17 19, Lord Lansdowne said, 
" The recei^Hlng of the Lord's Supper was never intended to be as a 
qualification for an office ; but as an open declaration of one's being 
and remaining a sincere member of the church of Christ. Whoever 
presumes to receive it with any other view, profanes it, and may be 
said to seek his promotion in this world, by eating and drinking his 
own damnation in the next. ' ' 

During the ministry of Mr. Andrew Gra}' at Glasgow, Mr. Wil- 
liam Guthrie of Fenwick, on one occasion, assisted him in the dispen- 
sation of the Lord's Supper. Some of Cromwell's officers, then in 
Glasgow, acting on the principle of promiscuous admission to the 
Lord's table, were coming irregularly, without having acquainted the 
minister, or giving evidence that they were prepared for the observance 
of that holy ordinance. Mr. Guthrie addressed them, when leaving 
their pews to come to the table, with such gravit}-, resolution, and 
zeal, that they were quite confounded, and sat down again, without 
giving any further disturbance. 

What did Christ do with the bread and wine, after he had given 
thanks ? He gave it to the disciples. He did not keep it with himself 
Thus he showed, that this, his sacrament was to be distributed to the 
people, and that it should not be partaken of by any one man, while 
the others looked on, as is done in the popish mass. 



294 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

What is the Lord's Supper ? 

1. It is a feast of love . " With desire have I desired to eat this 
passover with you, before I suffer." 

2. A feast of grace. " Given for you ; shed for you, for the 
remission of sin. ' ' 

3. A memorial feast. " Do this in remembrance of me." 

How shall it be celebrated? 

We are commanded by Christ to eat the bread and drink the wine. 
Without the eating and the drinking it is no sacrament ; and it is of 
no benefit, when, as in the Romish church, it is locked up and carried 
about in the church or on the street. 

Why does the Savior say expressly, Drink ye Ai,i, of it ? No doubt 
he foresaw that in the future times the cup would be withheld by the 
Romanists ; therefore he emphasized the little word all, which in- 
cludes the laity as well as the ministry. 

John Locke, so much distinguished for his learning (died 1704^ 
had not for a long time been able to attend public worship, on account 
of his bodily infirmities. A few months before his death, he desired 
to receive the Lord's Supper in his own house. He partook of it in 
communion with two of his intimate friends. After the reception he 
assured the minister, that he felt a true love for all men, and a sincere 
union with all true Christians of whatever name or denomination. 

Dr. Jerome Weller, of Freiburg, was severely afflicted in his old 
age, and he strengthened himself very much by the reception of the 
Holy Communion. As often as he received it, he noted it down, and 
added. Thanks and praise to God ; to-day I have again partaken of the 
Lord's Supper by which I am strengthened against evil. 

Lucia Ursula Stern, wife of the Courtpreacher Stern, desired be- 
fore the close of her life ^May 19, 1709,) once more to receive the Holy 
Communion She received it with such an impression of God's holi- 
ness, that she exclaimed, " Never in my life have I had such an im- 
pression of the infinite mercyof God. I am astonished at the great 
love which the Lord manifests to such a poor worm of the dust." 

A pastor in Wurttemberg called on a tailor, who was a member of 
his congregation, and asked him why he did not come to the com- 
munion of the Lord's Supper. The man replied, I would have no 
objection to go to the Lord's Supper, but previously in the confession 
to say, "I, poor sinner." No, dear pastor, — that appears too mean 
for me ! The pastor replied, You need not say that, you can say, " I 
the proud self-righteous tailor. ' ' 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 295 

When Francis Von Sickingen lay upon his deathbed, he was 
asked by his chaplain, whether he wished to confess to him ? Sickin- 
gen replied, " I have in my heart confessed to God." 

Frederick II., king of Prusia, had a very high regard for General 
Von Ziethen, who had led his army during the seven years war. He 
frequently invited him to dine at the royal table, and when no persons of 
nobility were present, always ordered him to sit by his side. On one 
occasion the king had invited him to dine with him on Good Friday. 
But Ziethen excused himself, because on this solemn festival he 
always received the Lord's Supper, and desired to maintain a devo- 
tional frame of mind. When Ziethen appeared the next time at the 
royal table, and the conversation had assumed a rather hilarious char- 
acter, the king asked him in a jocular and scoffing manner, "Well, 
Ziethen, how did you enjoy the Lord's Supper. Did you properly 
digest the body and blood of Christ ? " A loud laughter from all the 
guests sounded through the hall on hearing this profane question. 
The old general arose, and after bowing to the king, he addressed 
him in a firm voice as follows : "Your majesty knows, that in war I 
fear no dan: er and that wherever it was necessary, I risked my life 
for 3'ou and the fatherland. This disposition I still retain, and if it 
were needed and your majesty commanded, I would lay my gray head 
obediently at your feet. But there is One above us, who is greater 
than your majesty- and I, greater than all men. That is the Sa^4or 
and Redeemer of the world, who died for you, and has redeemed us all 
with his precious blood. This Holy One I will not permit to be touched 
or re^41ed, for on him is built my faith, my consolation and my hope 
in life and death In the power of this faith your noble, army bravely 
fought and conquered. Let not your majesty undermine this faith ; 
for then you will undermine the safety of the state." The king was 
visibly affected by these words of his brave general. He arose and ex- 
tended to the noble Christian general his right hand, laid his left hand 
on his shoulder and said, Happy Ziethen ! I wish I could have your 
faith ? I have all respect for your faith ; hold fast to it ; this shall 
never occur again ! A deep and solemn silence prevailed ; no one had 
the courage to utter a word. The king dismissed the guests, gave his 
hand to Ziethen, and said, Come with me into my cabinet 

The Sacrament in both kinds : During the time of the Reforma- 
tion, Luther's doctrines penetrated to other countries, where the 
popish church would not tolerate evangelical doctrines and usages. 
The cup was withheld from the laity, who consequently received only 
half of the sacrament. A Christian in Bohemia, whose mind had be- 



296 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

come enlightened on this suject, wrote to Dr. Luther for advice, and 
received the following letter in reply : 

• "To my good friend, the honorable and wise Martin Laninger, 
in Gastein, Peace in Christ, 

My dear brother, against the impossible there is no help. As you 
are aware, that it is right to receive the sacrament entire, and not 
half, it is better for you to abstain from it altogether, and content your- 
self in the mean time with the faith and the desire for the entire sac- 
rament, by which means you receive it spiritually. But if you by all 
means desire to receive the sacrament bodily and entire and your gov- 
ernment will not permit it, then you must leave that country and seek 
elsewhere. Christ sa5^s, " If they persecute you in one city, flee ye to 
another." Beside these I can give you no other advice. Herewith I 
commend you to the grace of God." 

Wittenberg, Tuesday, after St, Bartholomews, 1533. 

Dr. Martin Luther. 

' ' In all the world there is nothing more holy than the word of 
God ; for the sacrament itself is made and blessed and hallowed 
through God's word, and thereby all of us are spiritually born again 
and consecrated to be Christians," . , . "Where God's word is not 
preached, it were better that there were not singing, or reading, or 
assembly. The greatest and the principal part of the worship of God 
is the preaching and teaching of his word." — Luther. 

Shining more and more In the Christian life Baptism is the 
morning star ; Confirmation is the dawn of day, and the Holy Com- 
munion is the rising sun. As the sun shines brightest at noonday, so 
the love of God shines brightest and most glorious in this wonderful 
ordinance. Here the loving heart of God opens wide, as an expanding 
rose in all its loveliness and beauty, ' ' God so loved the world, that 
he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him, 
should not perish, but have everlasting life. ' ' 

The blood is the life. Jesus says. Drink ye all of this ; this cup is 
the New Testament in my blood, which was shed for you and for many, 
for the remission of sins. "The blood is the life," for when the blood 
is shed, the life is gone. The meaning therefore is, I give my life for 
the remission of your sins. I die that you may live. By faith in Jesus 
Christ we appropriate his meritorious sufferings and death. By his 
death we obtain forgiveness of sins, eternal life and salvation. The 
words "Given and shed for you for the remission of sins," are the 
chief thing in the Sacrament, for, as Luther says, "Where there is 
forgiveness of sins, there is life and salvation. ' ' 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 29/ 

The food of the soul. As our natural bodies are nourished and 
sustained by food and drink, so the Lord, in addition to his inspired 
word, has appointed a spiritual food and drink, in the Lord's Supper, 
that those who are weak in faith, sorrowful in spirit, sick in soul, may- 
obtain spiritual nourishment, strength and consolation. 

This is my body ; ihis is my blood In the night in which he was 
betrayed, Christ ate for the last time the Passover of the Old Testa- 
ment with his disciples During its celebration it was customary to 
ask this question : What is the meaning of this ordinance ? And the 
answer was given : This is the body of the lamb that was slain, when 
our fathers came out of Egypt ; and this cup is the blood of the lamb, 
which was sprinkled on the door-posts, and saved our fathers, when 
the angel of death passed over the land 

Now Christ institutes the Lord's Supper in place of the Passover, 
to become the Sacratnent of the New Testament, and to the question. 
What is this ? he says. This is (not the body of the lamb that was 
slain in Egypt, but it is) my body, it is the body of the Lamb of God, 
that was slain for the redemption of the world ; and this cup, of which 
you drink, is (not the blood of the lamb which was sprinkled on the 
door-posts of the Israelites, to save them from temporal death, but it 
is) my blood of the New Testament, the blood of the Lamb of God, 
which is shed on Calvary to save you from eternal death. 

How unspeakably more precious and glorious is the Sacrament 
of the New Testament, than that of the Old Testament ! 

Thanks be to God that we live in the New Testament dispensation, 

and partake in this holy Sacrament, not of the body and blood of the 
lamb that was slain in Egypt for the redemption of the Israelites, but 
of the Lamb of God that was slain on Calvary, for the sin of the world ! 

A positive command. When you surround this communion table 

you are obeying a positive command of the Savior, which is just as 
binding on every Christian as any other command in the Bible. The 
Lord says, ' ' Do this in remembrance of me. " " Drink ye all of this 
cup, which is the New Testament in my blood." No obedient subject 
of Divine Grace can wilfully refuse to obey this solemn injunction of 
our Savior, without forfeiting the favor of God and a saving interest in 
the atonement, which is symbolized in the Lord's Supper. May you 
therefore continue to obey this solemn command of Christ, as well as 
all other commands, which are enjoined upon us in the word of God. 
And finally the Lord will say to you, ' ' Well done, thou faithful ser- 
vant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord," and you will enter into the 
great marriage supper of the Lamb, where we shall see Jesus face to 
face and be like unto him. 



298 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

The living bread, which came down out of heaven. Jesus said, " I 
am the living bread, which came down out of heaven. If any man 
eat of this bread he shall live forever. I say unto you, except ye eat 
the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have not life in 
yourselves." The Jews understood these words literally, and ex- 
claimed, " How can this man give us his flesh to eat? This is a hard 
saying ; who can hear it ? " And when Jesus in the words of the insti- 
tution says, ' ' Take, eat ; this is my body. Drink ye all of it ; for this 
is my blood of the New Testament." The Roman Catholics take the 
words literally, and teach that the bread is no longer bread, and the 
wine is no longer wine, but are changed by the priestly consecration 
into the literal living flesh and blood of Jesus Christ, which we eat 
and drink in the Lord's Supper. 

But Jesus explains his own words when he says, "It is the spirit 
that quickeneth ; the flesh profiteth nothing ; the words that I have 
spoken unto you are spirit and are life." 

Drink ye all of this Why did the Lord put the word all into the 
Sacrament? No doubt he foresaw the perversion of the Holy Com- 
munion by the Papists, who withhold the cup from the laity, and ad- 
minister to them only the bread, against his express command in the 
words of the institution. We Protestants therefore emphasize the 
word aV. The cup of blessing which we bless was not designed for 
priests only, but for ai I Christians without distinction. Ministers and 
laymen, male and female, we a\l have an equal interest in Christ's sal- 
vation, and have an equal right to the whole sacrament in both of its 
elements. Therefore the Savior says, "Drink ye all of this cup." 
His blood was shed for us all. 

The three forms of the word God's Spirit operates in our minds 

and hearts through the truths of his Holy Word. There are three 

forms in which the Word is addressed to us : In the Bible we have 

God's inspired and written Word ; in the preaching of the Gospel we 

have the spoken Word ; and in the Sacraments we have the visible 

Word. 

The written word we receive by the sight of our eyes, the spoken 

word is communicated to us by the hearing of our ears, and the visible 

word is administered to us through our sight, touch and taste. In the 

sacraments the spoken and the visible word are combined, in order to 

constitute a sacrament. Water alone, without the word, is no baptism, 

and bread and wine alone, without the word, is not the Lord's Supper. 

But with the words of the institution, as given and commanded by 

Christ, they constitute a blessed and holy sacrament, to the joy and 

comfort of every true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 299 

Show forth the Lord's death till he come "As oft as ye eat of 
this bread and drink of this cup ye do show forth the Lord's death till 
he come." 

There are two momentous facts referred to in these words of St. 
Paul. One is the most important event that has happened since the 
foundation of the world, and which occurred nearly two thousand years 
ago ; namely, the death of Jesus Christ by crucifixion on Mount Cal- 
vary. That event is symbolized in this sacrament by the emblems of 
his broken body and his shed blood. 

The other event referred to is the second coming of Jesus Christ 
on the day of judgment. He himself declares that he will come in the 
glory of his Father, accompanied by the holy angels, with the voice of 
God and the trumpet of the archangel ; and the dead shall rise, and 
stand before him in judgment. " Great day, for which all other days 
were made, for which earth rose from chaos, man from earth, and an 
eternity, the date of God, descended on poor, earth-created man." 

What the Lord gives us In the Holy Communion the Lord 
gives us not silver and gold, not earthly crowns and sceptres, nor any- 
thing which the world holds in high esteem, but he gives himself to 
us, with all his worthiness ; with his w^hole heaven ; with his full sal- 
vation. There is an intimate communion between Christ and the be- 
liever ; here my soul is united with his soul ; my body with his body ; 
biy blood with his blood ; my heart with his heart ; my weakness, my 
poverty, mine infirmities are absorbed in his divinity, glory and holi- 
ness. Christ is mine and I am his. Hallelujah ! Praise, honor and 
glory be to God, vrho hath loved us and the Lamb that hath redeemed 
us with his blood. 

Shed for the remission of sins. Jesus sa3-s, " This is my blood of 
the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. ' ' 

Our sins are remitted, that is forgiven, not because we come to the 
Lord's Supper, nor because of anything we have done, or can do ; but 
our sins are forgiven, because Christ's blood was shed and he died to 
make an atonement for our sins 

. Luther says, ' ' The words given and shed for you, ' ' are the chief 
thing in the sacrament. Whoever doubts these words is unfit, for the 
words, "for you," require truly believing hearts. We might, there- 
fore, come to the Lord's Supper every day of our lives, and if we did 
not believe, or trust in Christ's blood shed for our sins, it would do us 

no good. 

I trust our sins were forgiven us when we were regenerated, con- 
verted and sanctified, and he still daily forgives our sins, when we re- 
pent and trust on Christ for pardon. 



300 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

Do this in remembrance of me. In that solemn night, when 
Jesus was betrayed, when he knew that he must be separated from his 
loving disciples and sufifer that awful death on the cross, he instituted 
this holy sacrament, saying, " Do this in remembrance of me." Jesus 
speaks these loving words also to us now ! If he did not care for us, 
and did not love us, it would make no difference to him whether we 
remembered him or not. 

When we separate from a dear friend, we usually say, now, 
brother, or sister, don't forget me, remember me, remember me in 
your prayers If we did not love our friends, we would not make 
such a request. So the loving heart of Jesus goes out to us in this holy 
communion. It is the strongest proof of his love to us, when he says, 
" Do this in remembrance of me." May our hearts also flow out in 
love to Jesus, who first loved us, even unto death, and gave himself 
for us. 

Our faith strengthened. The worthy reception of the Lord's Sup- 
per strengthens our faith. The Christian's living, saving faith is a 
sure confidence that Christ's precious blood was shed for his redemp- 
tion. Jesus sa5-s, ' ' This is my body, given into death for you. This is 
my blood shed for the remission of your sins. ' ' Whereby our Chris- 
tian graces, such as faith, hope and love are strengthened. O Lord 
Jesus, we believe, help thou our unbelief. Strengthen our faith and 
hope, that we may exclaim with the Patriarch, "I know that my 
Redeemer liveth, and I shall see him with mine own eyes." 

The New Testament in my b'ood. When a man expects to die 
soon he usually makes his last Will and Testament, in which he be- 
queaths his earthly goods to his family or friends, or to some benevo- 
lent institution. So our Lord Jesus Christ, in that solemn night before 
his death, gave the cup to his disciples, saying, * ' Drink ye all of it ; 
for this is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for 
the remission of sins." This is therefore Christ's last Will and Testa- 
ment, or Covenant, written and sealed with his own blood. In this 
Testament we, who have put on Christ, become his heirs. And what 
does he bequeath to us in this Testament ? He bestows upon us un- 
speakably great and precious things. Forgiveness of our sins, Justifi- 
cation before God, Redemption from eternal Death and Hell, and Life 
eternal. We are received as the Children of God, become Heirs of 
the kingdom of heaven, joint heirs with Jesus Christ, the Son of God, 
to a crown of glory which fadeth not away, but is eternal in the heav- 
ens. Rejoice, therefore, and be exceeding glad, for ye are the chil- 
dren and the heirs of the King Eternal. 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 3OI 

The New Testament. Jesus calls this holy ordinance " The New 
Testament in his blood." The Old Testament consisted in the blood 
of the Passover Lamb, that was slain for the redemption of the chil- 
dren of Israel from Egyptian bondage. The New Testament consists 
in the blood of the L^amb of God, that was slain for the redemption of 
the world from the bondage of sin and Satan. 

The Last Will and Testament. The last will and testament of a 
djdng friend has always been regarded as a very solemn and sacred 
document. While the testator lives he may, if he choose, change, or 
amend, or even annul his testament. But after the death of the testa- 
tor, and after his will has been signed, witnessed, sealed and probated, 
it is regarded in law as a criminal offence for any one to altar or 
efface any part of that will and thus defeat the intention of the testator. 
This was done to this holy sacrament when by the doctrine of Tran- 
substantiation the bread and the wine were made objects of idolatrous 
adoration, as is done in the popish mass ; and also when the cup was 
withholden from the laity, who thus receive only half of the sacrament. 

Christ's last Will and Testament was made for us. We are therein 
constituted his heirs. Let us therefore hold fast with jealous care 
both to the letter and the spirit of our Lord's last Will and Testament. 

The Lord's Supper on the Lord's Day. There are two ordinances 
of the New Testament which have been observed for nearly two thou- 
sand years. One is the Lord's Supper, and the other is the Lord's 
Day. And these two correspond with two ordinances in the Old Tes- 
tament. One of these is the Passover and the other is the Sabbat h 
The Passover commemorated the deliverance of the Israelites from the 
bondage of Pharaoh by the blood of the paschal lamb sprinkled on 
their doorposts. The Lord's Supper commemorates the death of Jesus 
Christ, the Lamb of God, whose blood was shed on Calvary for the sin 
of the world and to deliver us from the bondage of Satan. The Old 
Testament Sabbath was observed in commemoration of a finished 
creation on the seventh day of the week ; the Lord's Day is observed 
in commemoration of a finished redemption through the resurrection 
of Christ on the first day of the week. 

The sheltering blood. That was a dark night for Egypt, when 
the destroying angel passed over that land. It was a sad, sad night 
in every home, where was not found the sheltering blood of the pas- 
chal lamb upon the door-posts of the dwelling. 

The Judgment day is coming. The Archangel's trump proclaims 
his advent. My brethren, will he find our hearts sprinkled with the 
blood of the Lamb of God ? 



302 ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 

The Names of Our Holy Ordinance. There are a number of terms 
by which this holy ordinance is named. 

It is called the Lord's Supper, because Christ instituted it in the 
night in which he was betrayed. 

It is called the Breaking of Bread, because Christ blessed and 

brake the bread, when he instituted the Lord's Supper. 

It is called the Eucharist, because during the administration we 

sing hymns of praise and thanksgiving, as the Lord and his disciples 

also did after the institution. 

It is called the Lord's Table, because the emblems of Christ's 
broken body and shed blood are exhibited on a table. 

It is called the Sacrament, because we here renew our Baptismal 
Covenant and vow again our eternal faithfulness to Christ, the great 
Captain of our salvation. 

• It is callled the Communion. Communion means coming to- 
gether. Christ meets with us at his table, and his gracious presence 
cheers our hearts. It is also a communion among Christians. We 
surround one common table ; there is no difference made, as is often 
done in the world, between rich and poor, high and low, learned and 
unlearned ; we all partake of the same bread and drink of the same 
cup. If the emperor of Germany, or the queen of England should 
commune with us, they would get nothing more, and nothing less 
than the least of us. We are all brethren and sisters in Christ. The 
Lord God is our Father in heaven, Jesus Christ is our Savior, and the 
Holy Ghost is our sanctifier. I love this name. Communion, and as 
we have such a sweet communion here, I hope we may all have part 
in the blessed and glorious communion at the marriage feast of the 
Lamb in heaven. 

My body broken — my bio 3d shed. Jesus took the bread and brake 
it in the sight of his disciples, and said, ' ' Take, eat, this is my body, 
broken for you. ' ' In this action and these words he portrayed to them, 
how on the morrow, his body should be broken, tortured, lascerated 
by the crued Roman scourge, wounded by the thorny crown pressed 
upon his sacred head, and his hands and feet pierced by the rugged 
iron nails. Thus his body was broken for wi ; that is, to atone for our 
sins 

The wine in the cup, of which he gave them to drink, was an em- 
blem of that precious blood of Christ, which flowed from his thorn- 
crown wounded head, and pierced hands and feet. " It is my blood 
of the New Testament," said Jesus, " which was shed iox yon and for 
many, for the remission of sin " "He was wounded for our trans- 
gressions, he was bruised for our iniquities ; the chastisement of our 
peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed." 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 3O3 

Shjw forth the Lord's Death. The Apostle Paul says, " As often 
as ye eat this bread and drink of this cup, ye do show forth the Lord's 
d.ath till he come." i Cor. xi 26. 

The Lord's Supper was therefore not instituted to commemorate 
the birth of Christ, nor to extol his miracles, nor to set forth any spec- 
ial work that he did, or doctrine that he taught — these are all impor- 
tant and demand our attention at the proper time - but it was instituted 
for the express purpose of setting forth his suflFerings and death on the 
cross as an expiation for our sins. And what could be better adapted 
for this purpose ? Here we have before us the emblems of his broken 
body and his shed blood, and our minds are directed to his sufferings 
and death. We behold him in his agony and bloody sweat in the gar- 
den of Gethsemane ; we see him at the mockery of his trial, buffeted 
and spit upon ; we follow him to Pilate's judgment hall, where he was 
rejected, scourged and crowned with thorns ; we accompany him on 
his way to Calvary, bearing his cross. There we hear the strokes of 
the hammer, as the iron nails are driven through his hands and feet ; 
we hear him praying for his murderers, opening the gates of Paradise 
to a penitent and believing sinner, providing a home for his aged and 
grief-stricken mother. We see the supernatural darkness, we feel the 
earth quake beneath our feet, hear the rocks rending and observe the 
graves opening and the dead come forth, while we mark the awfully 
mysterious cry, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me," 
until at last our bleeding, suffering, dying Savior can exclaim, " It is 
finished, ' ' resign his spirit into the hands of his Father, bow his head 
and expire. 

And we remember, all this was done and suffered on account of 
our sins. It was our sins that caused him the agony in the garden, 
the mockery, scourging and thorny crown. It was our sins that laid 
the cross upon his shoulder and drove the nails through his hands and 
feet, and it was our sins that caused him that awful feeling of being 
forsaken of his God. The Holy Communion should therefore cause us 
to hate sin, as the most abominable thing on earth, which made it 
necessary in God's sight for his beloved Son to endure such suffering 
and such a death in order to make it possible for us to be saved. 



304 • ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 



CHRONOLOGY OF THE REFORMATION IN 

GERMANY. 

IvUther, born at Bisleben, November lo, - - - - 1483 

Luther attends the school at Mansfeld until - - - 1496 

Luther is sent to Magdeburg _ _ . . - 1497 

Luther comes to Eisenach . . _ - - 1498 

Luther goes to the university at Brfurt - - - - 1501 

Luther becomes a baccalaureate - - - - 1503 

Luther enters the monastery in the night of 17 July, - - 1505 

Luther is ordained a priest _ _ _ - - 1507 
Luther is called as a professor to the newly established university 

of Wittenberg ------ 1508 

Luther becomes preacher in Wittenberg - - - - 1509 

Luther is sent on business of his order to Rome - - 15 10 

Luther becomes Doctor of Divinity - - - - 15 12 

John Tetzel sells indulgences - - - - - 15 16 

Luther nails his 91 theses to the door of the castle church, 

October 31, ------ - 1517 

Luther is cited to Rome, but befends himself before Cardinal 

Cajetan at Augsburg, in October, - - - - 1518 

Philipp Melanchton, born at Bretten, February 16, - - 1497 

Philipp Melanchton becomes professor in Wittenberg - - 1518 
Luther has a discussion with the Pope's Legate, Carl Von 

Miltitz, at Altenburg, January, - - - - 15 19 
Luther disputes with Dr. Bck at Leipsic, where he attacks the 

Hierarchy, - - - - - - - 15 19 

Luther burns the papal bull, December 10, - - - 1520 
Luther defends himself at the Diet of Worms, on the 17th and 

i8th of April - - - - - - 1521 

Luther is carried to Wartburg to shield him from the ban. 

May 4th, - - - - - - - 1821 

Luther there begins to translate the Bible into the German 

language ------- 1521-34 

Luther returns to Wittenberg on account of Karlstad and the 

Zwichan prophets, March 7, - - - - 1522 
Thomas Muenzer and the war of the peasants - - 1524-25 

Luther marries Catharine Von Bora, June 13th, - - 1525 



ILLUSTRATED CATECHISM. 3O5 

The first Diet of Speier, August, ----- 1526 
Luther, Bugenhagen, and Jonas visit the churches of Saxony 1527-29 
Luther writes his Larger and Smaller Catechisms - - 1529 

The second Diet of Speier, the friends of the Reformation protest 1529 
The Diet of Augsburg, the Augsburg Confession is read and 

handed to the emperor, Charles v., June 25, - - 1530 

The Apology appears, 22 September, _ - - . 1530 

The Schmalkald League ----- 153 1 

Death of Zwingle ------- 1531 

The peace at Nurnberg, 23 July, _ - _ _ 1532 

The Schmalkald Articles appear, 15 February, - - - 1537 

The Roman Catholic League ----- 1538 

The order of the Jesuits organized by Loyola, about - - 1540 

The Council of Trent - - - - - - 1545-63 

Luther died at Eisleben, 18 February, _ - - - 1546 

The Schmalkald war ------ 1546-47 

John Frederick of Saxony and Philipp of Hessen taken prisoners 1547 
The Interim _.-.-_. 1548 

Moriz of Saxony conquers the treaty of Passau - - - 1552 

The Peace of Augsburg - - - - - - 1555 

The Formula of Concord - - - - - - 1577 

Melanchton dies, 19 April, ----- 1560 

The Union League (Evangelical), the Catholic Liga - - 1608-9 

The 30 year's war begins in Bohemia and ends there - 1618-48 

Frederick, king of Bohemia conquered at White Mount - 1620 

Christian IV , king of Denmark defeated at Lutter - - 1626-27 

The peace of Lubeck -__..- 1629 

The Restitution Edict ------ 1629 

Gustavus Adolphus, king of Sweden, landed in Germany, 24th 

of June --_-_-- 1630 

Magdeburg falls into the hands of Tilly, loth May, - - 1631 

The battle of Lutzen and death of Gustavus Adolphus, 6tli Nov. 1632 
The peace of Westphalia, which secures equal rights to the 

Protestants and Catholics ----- 1648 



3o6 



CONTENTS. 



CONTENTS. 



Preface, 

Introduction, . 

PART I. 

The Ten Commandments 
Introduction to the Commandments, 
The First Commandment, . . . 

Anecdotes and Illustrations, . 
The Second Commandment, . 

Anecdotes and Illustrations, . 
The Third Commandment, . . . 

Anecdotes and Illustrations, 
The Fourth Commandment, 

Anecdotes and Illustrations, 
The Fifth Commandment,. 

Anecdotes and Illustrations, 
The Sixth Commandment, 

Anecdotes and Illustrations, 
The Seventh Commandment, 

Anecdotes and Illustrations, 
The Eighth Commandment, 

Anecdotes and Illustrations, 
The Ninth and Tenth Commandments, 

Anecdotes and Illustrations, .... 

PART II. 
The Creed 
The First Article, 

Explanatory Notes, ....... 

Anecdotes and Illustrations, . . . 
The Second At ticley 

Explanatory Notes, 

Anecdotes and Illustrations, . 
The Third Article, 

Explanatory Notes, ... 

Anecdotes and Illustrations, . ... 



Ill 

V 



9 
lo 

12 

i8 

21 
26 
30 

37 
40 

49 
53 
58 
62 
66 
71 
77 
80 

85 
93 



lOI 

104 
107 
114 
120 
124 
131 
137 
141 



CONTENTS. 307 

Sanctification, 143 

A Holy Christian Church, 147 

The Forgiveness of sin, 150 

The Resurrection of the Body, 151 

PART III. 

The Lord's Prayer. 155 

Prayer in General, 157 

Explanatory Notes, . 157 

Anecdotes and Illustrations, 158 

The Lord' s Pray ^'r in Pafiicular, 164 

Explanatory Notes, 164 

Anecdotes on the Lord's Prayer in General, 165 

Introduction to the Lord s Prayer^ 166 

Explanatory Notes, 167 

Anecdotes and Illustrations, 168 

1 he First Petition, ...... 171 

Fxplanatory Notes, 172 

Anecdotes and Illustrations, 173 

The Second Petitiort, 177 

Explanatory Notes, 179 

Anecdotes and Illustrations, 180 

The Third Petition, 187 

Explanatory Notes, 190 

Anecdotes and Illustrations, 191 

The Fourth Petition^ 197 

Explanatory Notes, 200 

Anecdotes and Illustrations, 202 

The Fifth Petition, 211 

Explanatory Notes, 214 

Anecdotes and Illustrations, 216 

The Sixth Petition, .... 223 

Explanatory Notes, 226 

Anecdotes and Illustrations, 227 

The Seventh Petition, 236 

Explanatory Notes, 238 

Anecdotes and Illustrations, 239 

The Conclusion of the Lord' s Prayer, 242 

Explanatory Notes, 244 

Meaning of the word Amen, 245 

Anecdotes and Illustrations, .'...... 246 

The Lord's Prayer Paraphrased, 248 

Matthias Claudius' Exposition of the Lord's Prayer, 249 



308 CONTENTS. 

PART IV. 

Thk Sacramknt of HoIvY Baptism. 252 

Explanatory Notes on the Sacraments, 253 

Anecdotes and Illustrations, 255 

Baptism, • 256 

Explanatory Notes, 265 

Anecdotes and Illustrations, 266 

Confirmation, 273 

Explanatory Notes, 274 

Anecdotes and Illustrations, 275 

PART V. 

The Sacrament oe the IvORd's Supper. ' 277 

Explanatory Notes, 281 

Definitions of the Lord's Supper, 281, 282 

The words of the institution of the Lord's Supper in parallel col- 
umns, . 283 

Explanatory Notes on the Lord's Supper, 184 

The Nature and Design of the Lord's Supper,. 285 

The preparation for the worthy reception of the Lord's Supper, . 287 

The benefits ofthe Lord's Supper, 288 

Anecdotes and Illustrations, 289 

Chronology of the Reformation in Germany, 3^4 




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